Joachim: Sabah recorded RM4.37 bln foreign investments last year
23 Mar 2022
Sabah recorded about RM4.37 billion worth of foreign investments last year, the Sabah State Assembly was told today.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam said it was about 90 per cent of the total investment value recorded by the state last year, which was RM4.86 billion through investments from 14 manufacturing companies approved based on the records of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
The Sabah Industrial Development Minister said if compared to the value of foreign investment for 2020 and 2021, 2021 recorded a higher value of foreign investment compared to RM11.5 million in the previous year.
“The main contributor to the surge in the value of foreign investment is South Korea’s SK Nexilis with an investment value of RM4.2 billion. The value of this investment is the largest value of foreign investment received by Sabah so far.
“The success of bringing in investors from South Korea is the result of my ministry’s initiative in facilitating the company’s investment process,” he said when winding up the debate on Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin’s policy speech for his ministry here today.
Joachim said his ministry had formed a special task force to coordinate high-impact investments comprising more than 26 state and federal government agencies to expedite the approval process needed within seven months from talks to plant construction.
Continuing from the success of the special task force, he said, his ministry had continued the agency’s collaboration to facilitate the process of high-impact investment from China which manufactures solar panels at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park.
Joachim said they would also implement several initiatives to provide a conducive investment climate to foreign and domestic investors such as giving discounts on tax rates and land lease payments; impose competitive tariff rates on the use of electricity, gas and water.
Meanwhile, Joachim said the Sabah Entrepreneur Transformation Programme would be continued to help new entrepreneurs with products and potential by providing assistance in terms of new designs including logos, packaging printing, nutritional content and barcodes.
He said the programme would help new entrepreneurs market their products to local supermarkets, and this year, a total of 50 entrepreneurs would be assisted and the value of the returns from the programme was estimated at RM5 million.
He said the marketing programme at Pasaraya Bataras and Kedai Mesra Petronas would also be continued this year to market the products of Sabah’s small and medium industry entrepreneurs to local supermarkets following the positive impact in improving the economy of the group.
“Sales revenue last year reached RM4.2 million. The collaboration with Petronas Dagangan Bhd has also resulted in total sales of RM344,311. The target for the Sabah SME product marketing programme to the local market this year is RM5 million,” he said.
He said they would also implement a marketing programme to Peninsular Malaysia as part of a long-term plan to develop local products.
Currently, the Sabah Department of Industrial Development and Research is collaborating with Segi Fresh, a local supermarket with 56 outlets throughout Selangor and Perak, and it will be implemented next May, he said.
Source: Bernama
