Kota Kinabalu: The State Government under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is capable of better positive growth momentum this year, despite the challenging and uncertain global economic environment, said Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.
He is confident this can be achieved through the various initiatives strategically planned under the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Development Plan and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
Delivering the Policy Speech in conjunction with the fourth term of the 16th State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, Monday, Juhar said the State’s economy recorded positive growth of 1.1 per cent in 2021 compared to a contraction of 9.2 per cent the previous year.
He congratulated the State Cabinet led by Hajiji for the hard work and commitment to rehabilitate the State’s economy post-Covid-19.
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“Alhamdulillah, the implementation of various high-impact initiatives under the SMJ Development Plan began to bear fruit and Sabah has achieved various proud achievements that are reflected in the increase in economic growth and the wellbeing of the people during the period,” said Juhar.
He said re-opening the country’s border has had a positive impact and encouraged the recovery of Sabah’s tourism sector.
“In 2022, the number of tourist arrivals in Sabah reached 1.73 million people compared to only 371,187 in the previous year. International tourist arrivals from Singapore,
Brunei Darussalam, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands have shown a significant increase.
“This year, the State Government expects 2.2 million tourists who are expected to generate an income of RM4.1 billion.
“Thus, to achieve the target, the State Government is committed to further accelerating the implementation of various inclusive tourism initiatives and programmes, especially the promotion of tourism and the expansion of the air network towards making Sabah the most attractive tourist destination in Malaysia for domestic tourists or especially those from abroad,” he said.
He said efforts to preserve and conserve nature’s treasures, which are one of the important tourism assets in developing the ecotourism sector in Sabah, would continue.
This step is to ensure that the wealth of natural resources, including the State’s biodiversity, is always preserved so that it can be passed down to future generations and utilise in the best possible way to generate the State’s economy through the development of more ecotourism products, especially the premium ones, he added.
At the same time, tourism facilities, including those under the Sabah Parks and State Wildlife Department, would continue to be improved.
“The implementation of various programmes to uplift the cultural treasures of various races and ethnicities in the State will also continue to be empowered.
“Accordingly, this year, the State Government will organise several related programmes, including the Museum and Cultural Festival 2023 to introduce and promote the diversity and uniqueness of Sabah’s cultural treasures and ethnic creativity.
Digitisation initiatives are also being actively carried out to further improve cultural management in the State. Most recently, the Development of Cultural Arts and Protection of Cultural Intellectual Property has been implemented and documented in digital form.”
In the agricultural sector, especially for the crop sub-sector, the State Government will continue to focus on the implementation of the Crop Commodity Development Programme to further increase the State’s crop yields.
Juhar said among those that would be prioritised this year is the planting of fruits such as musang king durian, MD2 pineapple, avocado, Sabah banana and chokanan mango, vegetables, short-season crops such as sweet corn, ginger and yam as well as industrial crops, especially coffee and coconut.
As a catalyst for this effort, he said, the State Government has developed six Permanent Food Production Parks (TKPM) and six mini TKPM that emphasise large-scale agricultural activities, the use of the latest technology and the production of high-quality and productive products, which is in line with the State Government’s aspiration to make Sabah a regional food hub.
To fortify rice supply security, Juhar said 1,600 hectares in Terusan Sapi, Beluran has been allocated for rice cultivation.
Emphasis would also be given to efforts to increase the production of quality crops in a short period and disease resistance through highly innovative Research and Development (R&D) Programmes, he added.
In addition, the Plant Material Verification Scheme is also implemented to guarantee the purity of plant materials.
“To stimulate the development of the rubber industry in the State, the State Government is committed to expanding the area of rubber plantations and continuing the maintenance of rubber plantations for areas that have been cultivated from 2018 to 2022.
While to increase the income of rubber smallholders, the State Government will continue the entrepreneurship development programme such as the Aktiviti Ekonomi Tambahan (AET) programme.
“The State Government is also committed to continue developing the ruminant livestock industry. The focus will be given to the livestock-based food production sector by emphasising efforts to increase the Self-Sufficiency Rate (SSR) for ruminant meat production and further reduce dependence on imports.
For that this year, the development focus for this subsector is more focused on empowering the ruminant livestock industry.
The implementation of the Oil Palm Livestock Integration Project (PINTAR) and the Goat Entrepreneur Development Project will continue and are expected to have a major impact on the output of the Sabah livestock industry.
The State Government will also continue to enhance efforts to control, prevent and eradicate dangerous animal and zoonotic diseases,” he said.
In fisheries sub-sector, the State Government would continue to implement various initiatives to guarantee sufficient fisheries supply sources in the State.
They include initiatives to increase sea and river fisheries resources, commercial aquaculture activities and deep-sea exploration, attracting more investment in the fishing industry, empowering human capital, intensifying enforcement, strengthening targeted research collaboration and intensifying conservation programmes, including tagal and artificial reef projects.
“The State Government will continue the Target Group Income Enhancement Programme to help traditional fishermen as well as small downstream fisheries and aquaculture entrepreneurs.
“Under the Human Capital and Entrepreneur Development Programme, the State Government also implements up-skilling and re-skilling courses as well as Malaysian Skills Certificate-level (SKM) Technical, Vocational, Educational and Training (TVET) skills training run by the Ko-Nelayan Aquaculture Training Centre (KATC) and Fishermen Development Training involving youth in Sabah.
“At the same time, the State Government through the Marine Fish Seed Production Project (SENTS) will supply 60,000 seeds to the aquaculture operators.
“The State Government through Sabah Fish Marketing Sdn Bhd (Safma) is also building two jetties at the Safma Complex, Kota Kinabalu; one for landing and another for diesel and water supplies.
These jetties are expected to be able to accommodate twice the capacity of existing facilities to further strengthen the fisheries infrastructure network.”
Juhar said contract farming programmes such as Broiler Farming Project, Village Chicken Project, Mushroom Project, Honey Bee Farming Project and Pamelo Planting Project that are currently being implemented to help the poor in rural areas will also continue to be focused on.
He said to increase production and develop agricultural products, as many as five out of six agricultural produce centres developed by the State Government, especially to help local farmers to market their farm products, have already been operational.
In terms of improving the quality and safety of food and increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products in the international market, the State Government also carries out certification for agricultural products including Malaysian Good Agricultural Practice (My-GAP), Malaysian Organic (myOrganic) and Fish Quality Certificate (FQC), he explained.
“The management of water catchment areas will continue to be strengthened to preserve water catchment areas in the state not only to guarantee water supply but also to control the causes of floods.
In addition, development and settlement in natural areas, river reserves and low-lying areas that are frequently flooded will be avoided,” said Juhar.
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