Wednesday 12 June 2013

NO LET UP AS SDC ENTERS SECOND PHASE







CHAIRING .....Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman, chairing the 13th meeting of the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) recently. Also seen here is Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Peter Pang En Yin Deputy Chairman (2) SEDIA, Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman, State Secretary, Datuk Pg Hassanel Pg Mohd Tahir, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Datuk Ismail Abdullah Director of the Economic Planning Unit of Sabah and Datuk Dr. Mohd Yaakub Johari, CEO / President SEDIA

THE SABAH Development Corridor (SDC) is now progressing to its second phase; and Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) has escalated its effort to attract more investments both locally as well as by taking part in MITI/MIDA-led investment and trade missions abroad.

Speaking about SEDIA’s aggressive move to attract investments the Chief Minister said that the response has been very encouraging and has resulted in substantial investment in all the sectors promoted under the SDC, especially in tourism, agriculture and manufacturing, the three pillars of Musa’s Halatuju agenda.

“To further spur investment in the SDC, the Federal Ministry of Finance has approved a tax incentive package to encourage investors in the tourism, manufacturing, agriculture sectors, which cover oil palm, oil and gas as well as human resource and education. The tax incentive package is open for applications until 31st December, 2020,” he said.

Musa who is also the Chairman of SEDIA said that within the second phase, SEDIA will work closely with Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (TERAJU) to boost participation of Bumiputera entrepreneurs, and a secretariat has been set up at the SEDIA office to facilitate Teraju’s operation.

“A total of RM100 million has been allocated by TERAJU for Bumiputera entrepreneurs in Sabah,” he said, adding that SEDIA has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with SME Bank with the aim of assisting SMEs involved in economic activities within SDC, creating access to much needed funding.

In an effort to help local entrepreneurs, SEDIA has organised courses at the Sabah Agro-Industrial Precinct to encourage agro-businesses under the 1AgroSAIP programme. In this programme, participants are given an introduction to various business opportunities in the sector, including pharma-herbs, bird nest rearing and processing, agro-organic and agro-food industries, and bio-science and biotechnology.

“I believe these initiatives will ensure that all SMEs including Bumiputera entrepreneurs will be able to enjoy the benefits of development in Sabah and no one will be left behind,” he said.

He also disclosed that SEDIA has taken measures to address the human capital requirements of investors and one of the programmes introduced with cooperation from PEMANDU is the National Talent Enhancement Programme (NTEP) whose aim it is to provide job placement for degree and diploma holders in engineering.

To date, there are 21companies participating in this programme.

“The close partnerships with stakeholder agencies have enabled SEDIA to facilitate investment into SDC and develop local entrepreneurial skills.

“It is clear that SEDIA has established a close link with all stakeholders and this valuable engagement benefits all parties,” he said.

The Chief Minister stressed that the factors that would ensure sustained investment interest in Sabah are political stability, sound economic fundamentals, good infrastructure and an adequate pool of human resource.

In the matter of security Musa said the setting up of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) and the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) is proof of the government’s determination to safeguard Sabah’s peace and security. SEDIA is entrusted by the State and Federal Government to be the one-stop authority to deal with all aspects of the SDC, with the primary responsibility to plan, coordinate, promote and accelerate its development.

One of the most dramatic effects of the SDC is the reduction of poverty in Sabah. Since the launch of SDC in 2008, the poverty rate in Sabah has gone down from 19.7% in 2009 to 8.1% in 2012. In terms of investment performance, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) announced in February 2013 that the SDC recorded RM5 billion in investments in the manufacturing sector, the highest among the five corridors in Malaysia for the year 2012.

SEDIA has received a total of RM1.506 billion from allocations under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) and Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP) projects.  (Insight Sabah)

28 comments:

  1. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak shared today his vision for an open and free economy as he courted foreign and local investors soon after securing his second term in a hotly-contested general election.

    Putting the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) at the centre of his pledges, Najib explained that his ambition for the second term is to build a sustainable economy by stimulating more foreign investment and boosting domestic demand.

    “The ETP has a definite vision of the kind of economy it is intended to create,” said Najib in his keynote address at Invest Malaysia 2013 here.

    “We want to revise costly and inefficient subsidies. And we want to reduce the state’s role in private enterprise, to avoid warping markets.”

    Najib also spoke of a liberalised services sector, and the divestment of government-run companies to slim down the state and open up space for private investment.

    The prime minister however conceded that he is faced with a hard choice to draw down subsidies, as the government moves away from “broad brushes” initiatives in favour of direct financial assistance.

    “In the medium term, we must make our affirmative action programmes more market friendly and meritocratic,” he said.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The federal government spent RM42 billion on subsidies last year, and it plans to cut it down by at least RM4 billion this year.

    In the run up to the polls, BN had promised that it would increase the government’s 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) cash handouts from RM500 gradually to RM1,200 for those earning less than RM3,000 a month.

    Meanwhile, Putrajaya is expecting to narrow Malaysia’s fiscal deficit to four per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by this year, and three per cent by 2015.

    The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s pre-polls pledges have been criticised by Pakatan Rakyat (PR), and Najib took a dig at the opposition today, reiterating that the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) surged by more than 100 points after BN won Election 2013.

    “I wonder if that is any indication that the markets prefer our economic agenda over the opposition’s. It was tempting to see the rally as an endorsement of the path we have chosen for Malaysia,” Najib said.

    A report by financial wire Bloomberg last month stated that a BN victory in the May 5 polls has driven Malaysian bonds to outperform its Southeast Asian peers in May.

    In May, Malaysian government securities gained 0.3 per cent on average compared to Philippine bonds which fell 0.8 per cent while Thai paid zero returns. Local currency notes in Singapore and Indonesia dropped 2.4 per cent, HSBC Holdings Plc indexes reported.

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  3. Semua pegawai penyiasat di balai polis di daerah ini diminta mempertingkatkan kemahiran serta mengaplikasi ilmu sedia ada dalam menjalankan siasatan terhadap semua kes jenayah.

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  4. Good luck for the 2nd phase.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pastikan projek dijalankan mengikut perancangan.

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  5. This is something awaited for so long

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  6. There have been some concerns that SEDIA had been deliberately excluding certain community in the award of SDC projects. I wish to emphasize that SEDIA subscribes to the principles of good governance and has been very professional and transparent in the performance of its duties, including in the award of all SDC projects.

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  7. all SDC projects are funded by the Federal Government under the development expenditure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peruntukan yang mencukupi harus disalurkan untuk memastikan kelancaran projek tersebut.

      Delete
  8. The awards of these projects are therefore subjected to stringent rules and procedures as stipulated in the Treasury Instructions laid out by the Federal Government.

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  9. All SDC projects had been awarded through an open tender process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kontraktor yang dipilih harus memastikan projek mencapai kejayaan.

      Delete
  10. Invitation to bid had been published in major local newspapers detailing specific requirements. The tender bidders were then subjected to a series of technical and financial evaluations by the various committees comprising members drawn from related government agencies.

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  11. Only qualified bidders were shortlisted for the deliberation of SEDIA Tender Boards.

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  12. “I believe these initiatives will ensure that all SMEs including Bumiputera entrepreneurs will be able to enjoy the benefits of development in Sabah and no one will be left behind,” he said.

    Kerajaan sentiasa memberi bantuan. Dengan bantuan tersebut, sudah pasti ekonomi di Sabah akan melambung tinggi.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lembaga Pembangunan Ekonomi dan Pelaburan Sabah (SEDIA), agensi sehenti
    untuk memacu Koridor Pembangunan Sabah, akan berusaha secara
    habis-habisan untuk menarik pelaburan bagi merancakkan lagi pembangunan
    fasa kedua SDC.

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  14. Ketua Menteri, Datuk Seri Musa Aman berkata sehubungan dengan itu, SEDIA
    telah menyertai dalam pelaburan dan misi perdagangan yang ditaja oleh
    negeri dan Kementerian Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri/Lembaga
    Pembangunan Pelaburan Malaysia (MIDA) di dalam dan luar negara.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sambutan daripada misi-misi ini amat menggalakkan, berjaya mendorong
      lebih banyak kepentingan dan menarik pelaburan yang signifikan dalam
      sektor-sektor yang dipromosikan di bawah SDC dan yang digariskan di
      bawah Halatuju Agenda -- pelancongan, pertanian dan pembuatan," kata
      beliau dalam ucapan pembukaan di mesyuarat yang ke-13 ahli lembaga itu
      di sini Isnin.

      Delete
  15. Musa, yang juga merupakan pengerusi SEDIA berkata agensi itu akan turut
    mempromosikan secara aktif perusahaan kecil dan sederhana, terutamanya
    usahawan Bumiputera.

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  16. Beliau berkata yang SEDIA telah bekerjasama dengan TERAJU (Unit Peneraju
    Agenda Bumiputera) untuk merancakkan penyertaan usahawan Bumiputera dan
    sekretariat telah ditubuhkan di pejabat SEDIA untuk tujuan ini.

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  17. Sekretariat itu akan menyediakan akses kepada dana pemudahan untuk
    usahawan Bumiputera dan program TERAS di bawah TERAJU, kata beliau.

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  18. Dalam hal ini, Musa berkata yang TERAJU telah memperuntukkan RM100 juta untuk usahawan Bumiputera di Sabah.

    ReplyDelete
  19. SEDIA juga telah memeterai memorandum persefahaman dengan SME Bank
    dengan tujuan membimbing PKS yang terlibat dalam aktiviti ekonomi di
    SDC, serta mewujudkan akses kepada pembiayaan yang diperlukan," kata
    beliau.

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  20. Selain daripada itu, beliau berkata, SEDIA telah menganjurkan kursus di
    Sabah Agro-Industrial Precinct, bagi menggalakkan agro-perniagaan dalam
    sektor termasuk farma-herba, penternakan dan pemprosesan sarang burung,
    agro-organik dan industri agro-makanan dan biosains dan bioteknologi.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Musa berkata SEDIA telah mengambil langkah-langkah untuk menangani
    keperluan modal insan pelabur, dan juga mengadakan perbincangan dengan
    institut pendidikan tempatan dan asing untuk menyertai dalam program
    pembangunan modal insan di Sabah, terutamanya di Hab Pendidikan
    Sandakan.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sementara itu, Musa turut gembira untuk memaklumkan yang SEDIA telah
    menerima sejumlah RM1.506 bilion daripada peruntukan di bawah projek
    Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan dan Rancangan Malaysia Ke-10, dan daripada
    jumlah ini, 84 peratus telahpun dibelanjakan.

    ReplyDelete