Kota Kinabalu: Sabah industries are reminded to adopt digitalisation and automation to thrive with efficiency in the new era of manufacturing, said Sabah Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe.
“It will not only bring efficiency in cost but also in clients, leading them towards green development and an ultimately improved well-being.
“This is a new key that industry players must see, and I hope it is practiced amongst the new generation of industry players,” he said after officiating Kota Kinabalu Hardware, Machinery & Building Materials Traders Association (KKHMBA) 30th Anniversary at Hakka Hall on Saturday.
“We’re at this critical juncture, where all industries must adopt new norms and where business can no longer be the same as it was 30 years ago. Manufacturing furniture and building materials can be very efficient,” he added.
In his speech, The Federation Of Malaysia Hardware, Machinery & Building Materials Dealers’ Association (FMHMBA) Datuk Wira Darren Chan Lian Leong lamented how Malaysia has fallen behind in stainless steel manufacturing largely due to poor policy reforms.
He also pledged to make the stainless steel industry an economic pillar for the country.
Phoong meanwhile said Sabah has yet to have its own with the RM20 billion ‘green steel’ project at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP).
Phase One of the project by Esteel Enterprise Sabah Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Green Esteel Pte Ltd, is expected to be completed by 2026.
“Malaysia has only a few stainless steel mills in Selangor, Labuan and Sarawak. Calculating the cost expenditure, it is high time we look into how we can develop Sabah’s building materials and furnishings industry.
“The government will fully support this effort but we need the local industry to work together rather than just importing and trading materials,” he said.
He added that during the pandemic, the country’s GDP dropped 9.1 pc which was the “worst” compared to other countries because of heavy reliance on imports.
“Instead, we need to manufacture the things we need and import them or else how are we going to see our ports being happy and dynamic?
“When vessels come in, they don’t have anything to ship out from here and this is what Sabah is facing. We all need to have an effort to really look into it and start somewhere,” he said.
