Musa (second left) and James Wong (second right) witness the exchange of MoU between Ong (left) and John Nip (right).
SANDAKAN: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Sabah Green Development (SGD) and a China-based company, Living Great Fortune (LGF) to build 200 units of water villa at Sipadan Mangrove Resort, Semporna, in a ceremony witnessed by Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
The water villa will be used for tourism to support the Government’s initiative to attract more tourists to Sabah East Coast under Sabah East Coast Tourism Belt, which aims to increase the number of tourists to Sabah from 3.5 million (2017) to 10 million by 2023.
According to International Marketing Director of LGF Ong Tat Kian, the water villa will be the pioneer project of such initiative, and the construction will start after three months, after the land is ready for construction.
“The villa is to bring more tourists, especially tourists from China, to come to the Sabah’s East Coast. We will build more of such villas in the other parts of the East Coast,” he said.
Ong also said that the villa is now open for investment for interested investors locally and from China. He said that the investors will get to stay for a month at the villa for free, after it is completed. Then, LGF will run the operation of the villa while 70 per cent of the profit will go to the investors.
The MoU was signed and exchanged by Ong, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SGD, John Nip.
The ceremony which was held Monday night at Four Points be Sheraton Hotel here was also attended by potential investors of the project and around 20 investors from Chengdu and Shenzhen who are in Sandakan to better understand the Sabah East Coast Tourism Belt (SECTB).
Among the objectives of the visit is to implement direct flights between China and Sandakan and Tawau, to set up eNTRI system to ease visa requirements and to establish SMART Tourism solutions.
Musa said he hoped with SECTB, more visitors will come and investors will jointly develop the tourism industry in east coast of Sabah.
“We have so much to offer in terms of our natural attractions in the east cost of Sabah. We have Maliau Basin, Danum Valley, Sipadan Island. These natural wonders are home to a rich flora and fauna as well as a prolific marine life,” he said.
Meanwhile, Musa also witnessed signing of a second MoU between SGD and MIMOS Bhd to build communication infrastructure for security and surveillance for the villa.
MIMOS Bhd is a government-linked agency that specialises in research and development in information and communication technology in the country, under Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.
MIMOS was represented by its Director, Ir Dr Ahmad Nizar Harun in signing of the MoU. Also present was President of Sandakan Municipal Council, Datuk Ir James Wong.