Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is ready to take on the blue economy but marine spatial planning and ocean accounting remains as financial obstacles that must be addressed, said Sabah Maju Jaya Secretariat COO Datuk Rosmadi Sulai.

“Everything on land is already mapped and in the cloud (server). The sea? We’re still guessing,” he said during the talk on “Emergence of the Blue Economy” at the Sabah Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition (SOGCE) 2025 at SICC.

Rosmadi emphasised that 47 per cent of Sabah’s population live along the coastline, making ocean governance not just an economic necessity but a social and strategic imperative. 

And despite having a comprehensive Sabah blue economy framework with 14 identified sectors, he noted the lack of accessible and shared marine data.

He described the bits of information withheld by some as “tapuk-tapuk” (hidden), who are driven by an overly competitive mindset.

“This only prevents meaningful regional cooperation and investment. Even within Asean, we cannot collaborate effectively if we don’t share our marine mapping. Without knowing what’s in our waters, we cannot plan, manage, or protect them,” he stressed.

Sabah’s location at the heart of the Coral Triangle and proximity to seven countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and China, positions it as a natural hub for the blue economy. 

The blue economy is an economic system that seeks to conserve marine and freshwater environments and produce resources such as energy and food.

Rosmadi pointed to opportunities in desalination, marine biodiversity, runoff energy and offshore renewables but stressed that none of these could be unlocked without proper marine zoning.

He also pointed out the lack of a dedicated ocean-focused institution in Malaysia. 

“We have colleges for oil and gas, but none for the blue economy. If we don’t retain and train talent in maritime science and spatial planning, we will fall behind,” he added.