SEDIA Completes Investment Promotion Workshop with World Bank Group
Kota Kinabalu (Thursday) – The Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA), in collaboration with the World Bank Group (WBG), has completed five modules of Investment Promotion Capacity Building Workshop held from February 22 to March 22, 2021.
The weekly workshop, conducted via webinars, was attended by more than 80 participants from various agencies apart from SEDIA, including the State Ministry of Industrial Development (MID), Invest Sabah Bhd, Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC), Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park Sdn Bhd (KKIP), Sabah Tourism Board (STB), POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd, and MIDA Sabah, as well as several external consultants.
The overall objective is to increase the level of knowledge and understanding of the importance and impact of investment promotion, particularly at the regional level, as well as support SEDIA and its partners towards building high quality capabilities in attracting, retaining and growing inward investment into Sabah. Specifically, the workshop looked into providing support and enhancing effectiveness in areas of investment promotion and investors services, in responding to immediate implications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The workshop touched on key topics such as the current market place for inward investment (foreign direct investment) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of investment climate and partnerships in investment promotion, to name a few. Invest KL CEO Datuk Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli was featured as a special guest panellist to share on Invest KL’s approaches, experience, knowledge and lessons learnt in attracting, retaining and facilitating investors to Malaysia.
The webinar was conducted by experienced panel experts from WBG with more than 20 years of experience, led by Robert Whyte (Senior Consultant Investment Promotion) and Gerlin May Catangui (WB Senior Investment Policy and Promotion Officer). The other WBG team members consist of Richard Record (Lead Economist, WB Kuala Lumpur), Yew Keat Chong (Economist), Armando Heilbron (Senior Investment Promotion Officer), and Alyssia Maluda (Economist Consultant).
