PETALING JAYA: Sabah should focus on attracting high-quality investments from foreign and domestic companies for the state’s growth and development, said Qhazanah Sabah Group chairman Salleh Said Keruak.
He said attracting these investments needed various strategies and policy initiatives amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Giving examples, Salleh said the investment approval period must be reduced and processes should also be simplified.
“For example, time to process applications that have to undergo Environmental Impact Assessment or Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment should be shortened,” he said.
Speaking at the Sabah International Business And Economic Summit, he emphasised that this is crucial as the state has been left behind in terms of investments for many years.
“Less than a billion ringgit was recorded in most of the last 40 years based on the officially reported figures,” he said, adding that states like Selangor and Penang had reportedly raked in over a billion ringgit every year.
Salleh, who is also Usukan assemblyman, said he had raised this issue in the state assembly, adding that the Sabah chief minister had given his assurance that he will look into the matter.
Salleh, a former Sabah chief minister, said the cost of business, investment administrative costs and others should also be brought down significantly, including the cost of rental or leasing of land in industrial parks.
He added there is also a need to relax regulations or policies for immigration, and introduce investment priority areas and incentives for factory relocation especially from the peninsula.
Salleh also emphasised the need to focus on more practical investments that involve infrastructure development, housing projects, smart cities, water privatisation, and other potential areas mentioned in the Sabah Maju Jaya 5-year Development Plan. - FMT
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