Kota Kinabalu (Thursday) -The Prime Minister is delighted to see a close working relationship between the Federal government and Sabah under the able leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this is a relationship that has also been facilitated by the recently established Sabah Economic Development & Investment Authority (SEDIA) headed by the Chief Minister.

SEDIA is wholly funded by the Federal government from an allocation of the Prime Minister’s Department, an arrangement that is already producing remarkable results as can be seen from the efficient implementation of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) projects, the outcome of the Corridor & Regional Cities Lab and the implementation of schemes of the Public-Private Partnership programme. Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said Sabah “has been one of the most active states in bidding for the facilitation fund under this programme and our projects”. The Tawau Green Energy, Sipadan Mangrove Resort, International Technology & Convention Centre and Sabah International Convention Centre had received funding to date.

He said with all these measures being implemented by State and Federal governments, he has no doubts that the entire country would be able to not only weather the global economic storm but to also emerge from it stronger.

“I therefore urge everyone in Sabah to show their undivided support for the important work we are doing and allow us to continue with the enormous task of transforming the State and National economies. We have launched the SDC back in 2008 and today, we are already well on the way to achieving its key objectives of making Sabah not just a gateway for trade, investment and tourism but also a modern, vibrant, prosperous, and harmonious place to live,” he said.

The Prime Minister meanwhile announced the highlights of the Corridors & Regional Cities Lab for SDC and Greater Kota Kinabalu. The lab identified 31 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) with a target investment of RM77.5billion by the year 2020 – projects that are expected to generate RM35.5billion in incremental gross national income, create almost 144,000 new jobs, and through their implementation, push economic growth in Sabah to an annual average growth of 9 per cent.

“As you are aware, the government is committed to realising our vision, set out in the Economic Transformation Programme, of becoming a fully-developed nation by 2020 – a radical shift in our development strategy that will see us take our place among Asia’s top-performing economies,” he said.

Najib added that driven by 12 National Key Economic Areas, a total of 131 EPPs had been outlined within the designated sectors to help grow the national economy, with the goal of achieving a per capita income of RM48,000 and more than 3.3 million new jobs nationwide by 2020.

Sabah, he said, was projected to achieve a GNI of RM110billion and a per capita income of around RM32,400 or 72 per cent of the national target over the same timeframe. He said following the alignment of the NKEAs under the ETP with SDC, the key focus areas for Kota Kinabalu would be the development and modernisation of the city into a livestyle hub – boosting tourism attractions in Greater Kota Kinabalu, improving mobility and the public’s experience of travel, boosting public and private healthcare for health tourism and improving early childcare education.

“An ambitious, broad-based initiative, this entire programme is based on the government’s commitment to ‘People First, Performance Now’ under the 1Malaysia banner with the aim to create a modern, prosperous and peaceful nation and to improve the lives of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or social status,” Najib added.

He also said the aspirations of both programmes were housed within the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP) which has been designed on the premises of increasing incomes, inclusiveness and sustainability.

Najib said while the 10MP only charted the development of the country for the next five years, its effects would be felt far longer since it set the stage for the major structural transformation that a high-income economy required. – extracted from New Sabah Times