Five Sabah districts stand to gain via Nusantara
Published on: Monday, April 18, 2022
Joachim
THE shifting of Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara to Kalimantan will increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the whole of East Kalimantan (Kaltim) by 7.3 per cent and further increase investment by 47.7 per cent.Indonesia also has development plans in Kalimantan that involve infrastructure, rail network, roads, ports, the opening of new industrial areas as well as the development of rural districts and borders.
ADVERTISEMENT
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr. Joachim Gunsalam said, to some extent, this would have a “spillover effect” as well as open up opportunities for trade, investment and business cooperation for Malaysians in both Sabah and Sarawak.
He said the Sabah State Government had proposed several development projects aimed at seizing opportunities from the rapid development in Kalimantan.
“Among them is to target that districts such as Tawau, Kalabakan, Nabawan and Sipitang are developed in line with the development of North Kalimantan province (Kaltara).
“This includes the development of border towns, construction of land and water links as well as provision of basic infrastructure.
ADVERTISEMENT
“One of the major projects is the construction of the Serudong Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex (ICQS) as well as a road from Serudong, Kalabakan to Simanggaris, Kaltara which will connect Sabah with the North and South Poros Trans Kalimantan Expressway.
“The construction of the road allows access from major cities in Sabah to the Nusantara and other major cities in Kalimantan,” said Joachim who is also the Minister of Industrial Development at the 2022 Mandate Ceremony and Outstanding Service Award (APC) 2021 Presentation on April 12.
ADVERTISEMENT
On March 25 to April 1, Dr Joachim together with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industrial Development (MID), Thomas Logijin and Director of the State Economic Planning Unit (Upen) represented the Sabah State Government to participate in a working visit with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) to Kalimantan, Indonesia. The working visit was to see the development of the Capital Nusantara (IKN) in which the Indonesian Government will move its administrative centre to the location starting in 2024.
It was also to understand the investment promotion strategies of the two provinces as well as the new development plans for Pos Luar Batas Negara (PLBN) in order to accelerate the economic development of the country’s border areas.
Meanwhile, Dr Joachim said SK Nexilis has given the reasons why they chose Sabah to invest. Among them are fast permit approval, solid collaboration and industrial park equipment that is complete with basic facilities such as a port.
“This is an indicator for us to focus on which parts of the service should be given priority. Here I would also like to congratulate MID for having managed to present the forum topic brilliantly.
“I call on MID, DIDR, Sedco, KKIP Sdn Bhd, SODGC and Invest Sabah Sdn Bhd to jointly innovate and intensify efforts to attract potential investors to choose Sabah as their investment destination,” said Joachim, who is also Kundasang Assemblyman.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
