China urged to join ‘Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home’ scheme
Published on: Monday, August 12, 2024
Liew (tenth from right) presenting local products to the leader of the Henan delegation, Tina Yang (ninth from right).
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) President Datuk Frankie Liew urged China to participate in the “Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home Program” to facilitate future residency and investment processes.
He made these remarks when receiving a delegation from Hubei and Henan, China.
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Led by Liew, the Sabah China Chamber of Commerce held a meeting in the SCCC conference room, where they engaged in discussions with several business representatives from Hubei and Henan, China.
The delegation from Hubei and Henan was headed by Tina Yang, General Manager of CITIC Environmental Technology/Wuhan Xinfeng Optoelectronics Henan, and included members such as Wang Peng, Chairman of Zhengzhou Shenglong Co., Ltd.; Song Hongzhu, Overseas Manager; Chen Feifei, Director; Ge Jun, Vice President and Director of Overseas Project Office of the Tianjin Branch of China Electronics Engineering Design Institute; Hu Qiaochu, Vice President of the Tianjin Branch; Yu Qiangsheng, Business Manager; Liu Hao, Electromechanical Engineer; and Zhu Hongwei, Electrical Engineer.
The delegation represented prominent enterprises, with Wuhan Xinfeng Optoelectronics focussing primarily on hydroelectric engineering; China Electronics Engineering Design Institute being a leader in photovoltaic power generation; and Zhengzhou Shenglong Co., Ltd. being a major developer and manufacturer of 3D large screens, 3D virtual simulation platforms, and intelligent optoelectronic display equipment.
Liew mentioned that there have been a growing number of China enterprises and investors exploring investment and cooperation opportunities in Sabah.
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He emphasised that the current timing offers favourable conditions for China investment in Sabah.
“Timing” refers to the fact that in this era of trade wars and protectionism, Malaysia, by maintaining a highly neutral stance, has not sided with the U.S. against China.
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As a result, Malaysia has become a preferred destination for many investments and capacity relocations, as well as a safe haven for technology-driven capital investments.
He noted that in Peninsular Malaysia, there are high-tech industries such as semiconductors and cloud data centres.
In Sabah, Chinese and Korean enterprises have also been making significant investments, including Kibing Group’s photovoltaic glass project and SKC’s world’s largest copper foil factory for lithium-ion batteries.
Sabah’s strategic location in the centre of Asean, closer to China, allows for three-hour flights to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Macau, and Taiwan, and five to six-hour flights to Wuhan, Shanghai, and Beijing, with an increasing number of direct flights.
Liew highlighted that Sabah, with a population base of 600 million in Asean and 1.4 billion in China, serves as a gateway to a vast market of two billion people.
Moreover, Sabah is free from severe natural disasters, earning it the nickname “The Land Below the Wind.”
“From our Federal Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, there is a strong emphasis on maintaining good relations and friendship with China, especially in fostering economic, cultural, and educational investment cooperation.
The Prime Minister, Federal Ministers, Sabah’s Chief Minister, and other officials have all visited China multiple times for various investment promotion and governmental activities,” said Datuk Liu Shun Tai.
Liew also introduced Sabah to the China business representatives, emphasising that while Sabah is rich in resources, it is sparsely populated and lacks infrastructure.
“However, from the perspective of investors and entrepreneurs, this represents significant development and investment opportunities.
Our infrastructure, such as water, electricity, and roads, has substantial demand, and the current government, led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, places great emphasis on infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, and food processing industries.”
He stated that to express Sabah’s recognition of China capital and investments, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor not only endorses the federal visa policy, following the mutual visa exemption for tourism between Malaysia and China, but has also formulated a more flexible, Sabah-exclusive “Malaysia My Second Home Programme.”
He urged China enterprises and investors to invest in Sabah while applying for the Second Home Programme to facilitate future work and investment processes.
Liew also hoped that China entrepreneurs would maintain long-term friendly relations with Sabah, working together to contribute to economic investment cooperation and development between Sabah and China and to create more new opportunities.
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