Kota Kinabalu: HSBC Malaysia has pledged to leverage its global expertise and international investor network to help position Sabah as a leading Asia-Pacific hub for impact investment, while calling for a pipeline of bankable projects to support the State's sustainable development agenda.
HSBC Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Dato' Omar Siddiq said the bank's experience in sustainable finance could help Sabah attract large-scale capital for infrastructure and environmental projects, giving project sponsors access to international standards, global investors and proven financing structures.
Speaking at the Sabah Asia-Pacific Impact Investing for Sustainable Development Summit (Sabah AIMS) 2026 on Tuesday, Omar said unlocking impact investment would accelerate critical infrastructure development that could not be funded quickly enough through conventional government budgets while supporting efforts to diversify Sabah's economy.
He proposed three priorities to strengthen investor confidence, namely developing a list of investable projects with clear sponsors and measurable outcomes, establishing a shared framework for measurement, reporting, verification and governance, and creating a public-private risk-sharing framework to facilitate investment at scale.
Omar said sustainability and economic development should complement one another, adding that Sabah's natural assets and development needs placed it in a strong position to become a regional centre for impact investment.
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