27/07/2012 (New Straits Times) - In just over four years since its launch, the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) has already generated more than RM112.8 billion worth of planned and confirmed investments.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, accompanied by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, at the
opening of the Sabah Handicraft Centre in Keningau last month.

The initial scepticism has now turned into optimism as the SDC, launched in January 2008 and runs on the state government’s “Halatuju Agenda”, has succeeded in stimulating investor interest in Sabah.

Most of the investments are in sectors under the National Key Economic Areas such as oil and gas, oil palm, f isheries, livestock breeding, manufacturing and logistics, education and tourism.

Flagship projects such as the Lahad Datu Palm Oil Industrial Cluster and Sandakan, Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre, Sandakan Education Hub, Sabah Agro-Industrial Park, Oil and Natural Gas Cluster, Marine Industry Cluster, Kinabalu Gold Coast Enclave and agropolitan projects are already in their implementation phase. Several infrastructure projects have also been successfully completed.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the success of the SDC was largely due to the excellent ties and cooperation between the state and federal governments. “Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been generous in allocations to Sabah, making numerous development projects possible.” Some of the key projects under the SDC were officiated by Najib and Muhyiddin. Last year, the prime minister launched the Kemabong agropolitan project while Muhyiddin officiatedthegroundbreakingceremony for a similar project in Tongod.

Earlier this year, Najib launched the RM4.7 billion Sabah Ammonia- Urea Complex (Samur) project in Sipitang and was in Keningau recently to launch the Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre and the Sabah Handicraft Centre.

A total of 31 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) have been identified for implementation in the SDC and Greater Kota Kinabalu that will make an indelible impact on Sabah’s economic performance and livability.

The projects, identified by the Corridors and Regional Cities Lab Programme, were launched in July last year to help align the regional economic corridors’ programmes with the government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

The 31 EPPs, with a target investment of RM77.5 billion by 2020, were expected to generate RM35.5 billion incremental gross national income (GNI).

The projects are expected to create almost 150,000 jobs and push economic growth in Sabah to an annual average of nine per cent.

EPPs in the state’s oil and gas sector alone will involve an investment of RM18.72 billion which is expected to generate RM12.8 billion in GNI and provide 23,119 jobs.

The EPPs for the oil and gas sector are the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline extension project to the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP), Kimanis Power Plant, Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal, Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park, Lahad Datu Re- Gasification Terminal, Lahad Datu Power Plant and Gas Separation Plant in Kimanis.

For the oil palm sector, two EPPs have been identified — the Beluran and Kemabong agropolitan project as well as the Sabah Palm Oil Industrial Cluster project in Lahad Datu and Sandakan, with an investment of RM22.485 billion.

The GNI to be generated from the project is RM8.766 billion, with the oil palm sector providing 12,201 jobs.

The manufacturing and logistics sector will witness the setting up of theMainLineOperatorSetUpproject in the Sepanggar Investment and the KKIP project, with RM1.939 billion in GNI and the creation of 23,471 jobs.

Going by the SDC’s steady pace of progress, it could well be on the way to achieving its key objectives of making Sabah not just a gateway for trade, investment and tourism, but also a modern, vibrant, prosperous and harmonious place to live.