Kota Kinabalu: The State Government will empower the “Manufacturing Investment Task Force” this year to ensure all approved investment proposals can be realised and implementation expedited, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said the industrial and investment sectors continue to be the drivers of the State’s economy and have contributed to the encouraging total investment amount.
He said in 2023, Sabah recorded a total State investment of RM11.346 billion and ranked seventh in receiving the highest investment in Malaysia.
“The State Government has succeeded in invigorating the industrial sector and further encouraging investment growth in the economic chain,” he said at the Launch and Opening Ceremony of the Bursa Marketplace Fair Sabah 2024 at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, here, on Saturday.
SPONSORED CONTENT Electrifying windows of opportunity in Sabah - The right policies, collaborations, and strategies can turn emerging opportunities into victories for all parties in Sabah. CHIEF Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor’s 2021 Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya Plan and the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) have laid out a road map to an exciting future for all Sabahans, with a target of increasing Sabah’s income levels and GDP per capita from about RM 23,000 to about RM 40,000 by 2030. Read more His speech text was read by State Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship, Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe.
Hajiji said investments with a wide impact such as SK Nexilis Malaysia Sdn Bhd have expanded their investment in Sabah through their subsidiary, Curix Sdn Bhd, in the manufacturing of a copper granulation plant in Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) with a total investment value of RM300 million.
He said the oil and gas industry in Sabah is also growing in both upstream and downstream activities. All these investments have met the current high global demand and focused on driving broad growth and job opportunities for Sabahans.
He said it is crucial for the people of this State to be exposed to financial education and literacy as well as having an “investor mindset”, to make life better, contribute to community development, and help others achieve the same goals.
Hajiji said, based on a recent research paper on the Malaysian Retail Investor Landscape published by Bursa Malaysia, respondents from Sabah and Sarawak generally have a relatively low level of understanding about stock investment.
“This shows how important financial education is in efforts to improve one’s literacy level in the stock market,” he said.
He said that the State Government is fully committed to youth development as they are the State’s biggest investment that must be educated to become responsible investors in the coming decade.
He said, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, more than half or 52.5 per cent of the Malaysian population consists of the Millennial, Gen Z or younger generation and data from the Malaysian Institute of Youth Development Research states that Sabah has the second highest number of youths in Malaysia.
“Therefore, now is the best time to help advance the status of our youth. I believe the Bursa Marketplace Fair can educate and help raise awareness of smart investing, especially among our youth,” he said.
Hajiji said, as an investor, it is important to learn how to obtain and protect capital, as well as be wary of the increasing financial scam schemes happening daily.
“As is the case everywhere in the world, most of it starts with ourselves. This is where Bursa Malaysia’s role is important because they have many guidelines and various investment opportunities that our youth should take advantage of,” he said.
He also praised Bursa Malaysia for taking the initiative to cultivate financial literacy among the young through their gamification tool, Burmon Trader.
Hajiji hoped the Bursa Marketplace Fair 2024 programme can expose visitors to various digital tools that help educate and develop investors, such as MyBursa and the Bursa Anywhere application.
He also welcomed Bursa Malaysia’s recent launch of their new API gateway, considering the low rate of Central Depository System (CDS) account ownership in Sabah.
Present were Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia; and Stephanie Tan Kar Mun, Head of Investor Strategy and Development, among others.
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