MITI REFINES INVESTMENTS IN SABAH TO AVOID BECOMING 'ASSEMBLY HUB'

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- The government is refining several proposals for high-tech investments in Sabah, including in the semiconductor sector, to ensure the state does not become merely an assembly hub, but instead plays a role in the global supply chain.

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said Sabah has a semiconductor network that is close to several other countries which gives it an advantage in the supply chain.

“We have to be careful to admit the right sectors, we don't want sectors that only do installation, there is no value added. Hence it is important to have cooperation. Earlier, I had discussions with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) Sabah.

“They do focus more on certain sectors and technologies because we don't want the technology used to be old technology or to use 'sunset' industries,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul was met by reporters at a “santai bersama calon Pakatan Harapan (PH)” programme for the 17th Sabah State Election for the Api-Api state seat, Thonny Chee, here today.

He was commenting when asked about the federal government's efforts to ensure that Sabah does not just become an 'assembly hub' for high-tech investments.

Elaborating further, he said that in the manufacturing sector development plan, the government does intend to increase economic complexity, not just making finished products or assembling, but providing added value in the production chain.

“We want to increase economic complexity because this will upgrade the people’s living standards in terms of salaries, stimulate the local small and medium enterprise (SME) ecosystem and provide a wider economic spillover,” he said.

In the meantime, he said the significant increase in investments in Sabah, especially in the manufacturing sector involving companies from China and South Korea, is not an issue of dependence on a particular country, but rather needs to be assessed from the perspective of sustainability and export potential.

“Because in terms of exports too, Sabah is a destination that we can use as a China Plus One strategy. There are many things that we can see including in terms of exports, not just investments. We have a trade surplus in Sabah, showing that it is an important export destination for the country,” he said.

On Nov 8, Tengku Zafrul announced that Sabah recorded a value of approved investments totalling RM11.37 billion involving various sectors for the first six months of this year.

The investments cover the manufacturing, services and primary sectors with 7,892 job opportunities created since 2022.

He said the achievement showed investor confidence in Sabah, especially with the implementation of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) and the Green Investment Strategy (GIS) which targets the state as a downstream manufacturing and renewable energy hub.

-- BERNAMA