Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s fantastic location, and unique attractions draw not only tourists but also investors to boost the state economy to benefit the people, according to a panel of speakers invited to the Property Hunter Conference for its Panel Discussion 2 at SICC on Friday, June 14 2024.
The event themed: “Investment Exploration: Uncover the Distinct Allure of Sabah” was moderated by Dexter Yeh, Marketing Manager of Daily Express.
Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, President of Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) Datuk Sr Chua Soon Ping, CEO of Sabah Convention Bureau Noredah Othman and Chief Research Officer of Institute for Development Studies Sabah Dr Richard T. Koh.
Phoong said, its unique strategic location, made Sabah attractive to investors looking to diversify their supply chain due to geopolitical tensions created by the China–USA rivalry.
He also echoed what Dr Richard T. Koh of IDS said earlier on the attractions of Sabah’s location and the rise of Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital in Kalimantan Borneo.
“Sabah has a very unique strategic location, located in the middle of Southeast Asia. Because of the trade war going on between China and the US, there are more and more companies, especially from China and East Asia. They want to shift away.
“They want to move their part of their supply chain and part of their manufacturing outside. They want to move to Southeast Asia. So now they are looking at different places in Southeast Asia.
“In the past decade, the winner was Vietnam. Now, more and more countries are looking into potential investment opportunities in Malaysia.”
Phoong opined that because of the establishment of the new Indonesian Nusantara in Kalimantan Borneo, foreign investors are looking at East Malaysia.
Approximately, Sabah is located along the connectivity route of China – Korea – Japan – Hong Kong shipping hub to provide convenience. KK is conveniently nearer to Hong Kong and East Asia than Nusantara.
“We have natural resources. Now the State government is deploying its strategies to stop exporting our natural resources or raw materials out of Sabah.
“We want to develop our downstream industries. That is why you can see the Chinese factory – the investment by Kibing, a China firm that successfully set up a factory in KKIP by using our silica sand as raw material to develop solar panel glass.
“So, can you imagine? Sabah now can produce and export solar glass.
Further on, we want to attract solar panel manufacturers to come and invest in Sabah where there is a whole supply chain from silica sand to solar panel glass to solar panel. We are now working on that.
“What makes us so attractive? Natural resources, strategic location, connectivity. KKIA is the second busiest airport in Malaysia.
“Now the government has decided to upgrade our Sapangar port which is facing a serious congestion problem. We need to mitigate that problem by upgrading the port.
“While waiting for the construction to be done, the government has decided to form a strategic collaboration with DP World, which is the third largest port operator in the world, to operate our Sapangar Port.
“That will bring in more connectivity as DB World headquarters is based in Dubai. That will certaining bring in more potential investments from the Middle and East Asia.
“Because of the shift in geopolitical trend, more and more companies are looking at potential investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. That will bring in a lot of opportunities to Sabahan firms.
“Meanwhile we are working very hard to build the ecosystem in Sabah. We hope that the foreign direct investments will bring in opportunities and create a better ecosystem that will bring in a lot of opportunities for our local entrepreneurs, especially for our housing and real estate market.
“SK Nexilis is now employing 500 workers, whereas the Kibing Group is now employing 1,800 workers. Now they are expanding their investment.
Their third production line will be constructed very soon. So that will provide jobs for an extra 500 workforce. So altogether there will be about 3,000 workforce in KKIP.
“So, certainly these people will need to buy a house, buy property. The Kibing and SK Nexilis success stories will become a pioneer to improve the confidence of other investors out there.
I am convinced that when it comes to the property and real estate market, over the next five to ten years, with the growth of the manufacturing industries sector, especially direct foreign investment, the local property market will be booming,” Phoong said.
President of Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) Datuk Sr Chua Soon Ping said Shareda can help the government to build affordable housing on lands provided by the government, but social housing remains under the responsibility of the government and its relevant agencies to meet the demand from the B40 segment of society.
