17/02/2012 (New Strait Times) - Thirty-one new Entry Point Projects across Sabah have been identified under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) initiatives with a target investment of RM77.5 billion by 2020.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak holding up facilitation fund letters of offers to fund six
key projects under the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) during the opening of SDC Open
Day: Corridors and Regional Cities Programme in Kota Kinabalu yesterday. With him are
(from left) Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Sabah Chief Minister
Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Sedia chief executive Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari.
Pic by Malai Rosmah Tuah

Identified for implementation by the Corridors and Regional Cities labs for the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), the ETP projects are expected to generate RM35.5 billion incremental gross national income (GNI) and create 150,000 new jobs.

The ETP projects were unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the launch of the SDC Open Day: Corridors and Regional Cities Programme here.

The one-day event presented comprehensive information from the various labs after an intensive eight-week programme held last year with focus to drive the economic corridors of Sabah to bring the state on a par with other high-income  Asian economies.

The ETP projects cover tourism, palm oil, agriculture, oil and gas, education, manufacturing and logistics.

Najib said the government had spent much effort and resources on the ETP to ensure that all strata of societies benefited from it.

"The government is constantly monitoring and reviewing directions, strategies and programmes for ETP to ensure the nation emerges as a high-income nation."

The government has set a target of nine per cent growth annually and aspires to achieve RM110 billion GNI for Sabah in 2020, which translates into GNI per capita of RM32,400.

"The government is committed to realising our vision set out in the ETP for Malaysia to become a fully-developed and high-income nation by 2020."

Driven by 12 National Key Economic Areas,  131 Entry Point Projects have been identified nationwide within the designated sectors to help grow the national economy with the goal of a per capita income of RM48,000 and more than 3.3 million new jobs by  2020.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman commended the SDC for  implementing various projects, noting that RM1.2 billion had been effected in transforming the economic landscape of Sabah.

Thanking the prime minister for ensuring Sabah's economic development moves in tandem with corridors in the other states, Musa said the state had received more than RM500 million from the Public-Private Partnership fund for the various ETP projects.

Najib also presented to Musa a mock cheque for RM459.2 million approved by the Federal Government under the Facilitation Funds for six priority ETP projects in Sabah.

To be implemented at a cost of RM5.1 billion,  ETP projects range from tourism to health as well as power plant projects.