Sabah

In his recent Chinese New Year 2012 message, Sabah’s chief minister, Musa Aman, indicated progress has been made in several sectors of the economy, such as oil and gas, palm oil and tourism. Yet he also pointed to the state’s need to educate and train its young people if progress is to continue long into the state’s future.

The New Year has started out on a turbulent note for Sabah’s air transportation sector, with some fearing that recent developments may spell hard times ahead for investment in the state and its tourism sector. Yet a possible partnership with neighbouring Brunei Darussalam’s national carrier may hold a solution to Sabah’s air travel troubles.

As 2012 gets underway, Sabah’s plantation sector players have been keeping a wary eye on both the weather and economic forecasts, as external factors threaten to challenge palm oil production. Meanwhile, the state’s rubber plantations await a major replanting campaign this year as part of national plans for commodities investment.

It has been an eventful year for Sabah, characterised by growing streams of investment flowing into the state, enhanced economic cooperation, improved trade relations and several significant offshore oil discoveries, including one announced in November by the national oil corporation, Petronas.

With the federal government targeting broadband penetration rates of 75% by the end of 2015, much work remains to be done in Sabah, which, at 33%, has the lowest penetration rate of all Malaysia’s states. Some progress has been seen in this regard recently, however, with several telecoms companies moving to boost their investments in Eastern Malaysia.

With investors and policy makers gathering in Kota Kinabalu in late October for a key investment forum, Sabah’s decision makers were able to present a picture of growing confidence in the state’s economy and in its ability to leverage Sabah’s unique position in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).