CHINESE LEADERS IMPRESSED

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said China sees Sabah as a place with full of tourism potential and hence the reason for top leaders visiting the State lately.

He said the Chinese are also keen to invest in Sabah's various economic sectors.

"I told him that there are many opportunities in Sabah and also to invite businesses from China to invest in Sabah," he said, after a meeting with Wu Bangguo, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China cum Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa, here.

During the closed door meeting, Musa said Wu opined that Sabah has a huge potential in terms of resources, tourism and assured that many Chinese will visit Malaysia and Sabah, in particular.

Musa said Sabah is open for investments in tourism, oil and gas, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Based on the scenario, Wu hoped there would be more people from his country visiting Sabah.

Musa, on the other hand, reciprocated that the visit by Wu and his entourage of 100 was very meaningful to Sabah, adding that more Chinese leaders should visit Sabah from time to time.

"They see Sabah as among the beautiful states in the country," he said.

He said the State Government also hopes it could work with the Chinese in terms of agriculture and industrialisation.

To a question, Musa foresees more Chinese leaders coming here and this is evidenced by a visit from a senior Chinese leader, Jia Quinling, a senior leader from the NPC, four months ago.

"This shows how popular and important Sabah is to China," he said.

He said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife, Catherine, were also very impressed with Sabah's environment when they visited Sabah last week.

Musa said the visit by Wu and his delegation bodes well for the already close bilateral ties between Malaysia and China that was paved in 1974 by past leaders, namely Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, the father of present Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the State Government has anticipated closer ties and cooperation with China given that the business relationships between both entities had grown stronger.

He assured that the government would continue to formulate policies and procedures that support a business friendly environment.

Musa also briefed them about Sabah's strengths in palm oil, oil and gas and other sectors namely agriculture (cocoa and rubber).

The entry of two prominent US-based companies to invest in Sabah was also mentioned including a partnership with Brunei Darussalam in livestock industry.

Sabah, he told Wu, is the most successful state in Malaysia in attracting private investments. "For the first quarter of 2012, we have managed to attract private investments in the amount of RM10 billion, way ahead of other states," he said.

Among the reasons is having a stable, business-friendly and a prudent government, which is one of the key pre-requisites to attract investors.

Another reason given by investors from Europe and United States for their interest in Sabah is that the environment here is still protected because of Sabah's stringent forestry laws and strong conservation programme.

Musa said he would like to see China and Sabah jointly explore opportunities in new sources of growth such as information and communications technology, aquaculture, fruit and livestock products.

In addition, he said, Sabah and China also could explore environmental rehabilitation and green technology. (DE)