Adopt digitalisation and automation, sectors told

LocalTechnology
20 Jan 2025 • 10:04 AM MYT
Daily Express
Daily Express

Daily Express Online (Malaysia) is Sabah's top-ranked & most viewed English news site. It is also Sabah's leading & most circulated daily English newspaper.

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By: Sabah Publishing House Sdn Bhd

INDUSTRIAL Development and Entrepreneurship Minister, Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, reminded Sabah industries to adopt digitalisation and automation to thrive efficiently in the new era of manufacturing.

“It will not only bring efficiency in cost but also in clients, leading them towards green development and an ultimately improved wellbeing.

Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“This is a new key that industry players must see and I hope it is practised amongst the new generation of industry players.

“We’re at this critical juncture, where all industries must adopt new norms and where business can no longer be the same as it was 30 years ago. Manufacturing furniture and building materials can be very efficient,” he after officiating Kota Kinabalu Hardware, Machinery & Building Materials Traders Association (KKHMBA) 30th Anniversary at Hakka Hall in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 11.

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He also pledged to make the stainless steel industry an economic pillar for the country.

Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Meanwhile, Phoong said Sabah has yet to have its own with the RM20 billion ‘green steel’ project at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (Sogip).

Phase One of the project by Esteel Enterprise Sabah Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Green Esteel Pte Ltd, is expected to be completed by 2026.

Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“Malaysia has only a few stainless steel mills in Selangor, Labuan and Sarawak. Calculating the cost expenditure, it is high time we look into how we can develop Sabah’s building materials and furnishings industry.

“The Government will fully support this effort but we need the local industry to work together rather than just importing and trading materials,” he said.

Phoong said that during the pandemic, the country’s GDP dropped 9.1 per cent which was the “worst” compared to other countries because of its heavy reliance on imports.

“Instead, we need to manufacture the things we need and import them or else how are we going to see our ports being happy and dynamic?

“When vessels come in, they don’t have anything to ship out from here and this is what Sabah is facing. We all need to make an effort to really look into it and start somewhere,” he said.