PRIORITISED PROGRAMMES: SDC aims to triple its GDP per capita to at least RM14,784 billion by 2025 and to increase its GDP four-fold to RM63.2 billion through the implementation of prioritised programmes, says Yaakub.
Datuk Mohd Yaakub Johari
KUCHING: Historically, Sabah has been regarded as a resource-based economy flush with palm oil, rubber and other agriculture, fisheries, and forest based products.
Of late the resource-based state has been transforming with prominence being given to the oil and gas (O&G) industry as well as the rapidly evolving service sector, especially its tourism sector that has been doubling its growth rate every four years.
In addition, the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) initiative was introduced to drive the economic growth in the state and its implementing agency, Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) was established to kickstart the ‘masterplan’.
SDC aims to triple its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to at least RM14,784 billion by 2025 and to increase its GDP four-fold to RM63.2 billion through the implementation of prioritised programmes.
According to Sedia chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Yaakub Johari, the first phase of activities that SDC engaged in 2010 indicated that the planned investment from the private sector had reached RM57 billion and the realised investment was RM11.95 billion, which was higher than the targeted figure of RM11.3 billion.
“The projects implemented have clearly enhanced the resilience of the state economy and at the same time improved investor confidence,” he told The Borneo Post in an exclusive interview.
A breakdown of the cumulative investment in SDC by industry, showed that the tourism sector was the highest contributor at 45.6 per cent from the period 2008 to 2011. Manufacturing came in with 33.5 per cent investment while the infrastructure sector accounted for 12.6 per cent of committed investments.
The agricultural sector, on the other hand, is expected to continue to be a prime driver of Sabah’s economy. It has benefitted substantial investment in the past with almost 1.3 million hectares of oil palm opening up.
Since 2010, Sabah’s O&G sector has attracted 8.3 per cent investment to SDC. “Sabah has the potential to develop as a regional centre not only for deepwater exploration but also for O&G services and integrated petrochemicals,” Yaakub ellaborated.
“The new natural gas discoveries offshore about 100 kilometres south of Kota Kinabalu that add another 227 million barrels of oil equivalent hydrocarbon reserves, has caused both the public and private sectors to focus on developing this industry as a sunrise industry for Sabah,” he added.
In total, cumulative planned investments in Sabah since the launch of SDC stood at RM112 billion as the end of June 2012, he revealed.