KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has approved three new industrial parks to be set up in a bid to woo investors and create jobs.
Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Feb 12) had approved the future parks in Sabah's northern Kudat, Kota Belud and Beaufort.
He said that the state hopes the investment will create jobs as part of broader efforts to achieve the state’s economic growth targets.
He said an area of about 1,600ha will be used to develop the Blue Economy Industrial Park in Kudat under the state-owned Sabah Economic Development Corporation (Sedco).
He said the project aims to integrate local communities into the industrial ecosystem.
“This park will focus on the blue economy, attracting investments in seafood-related industries and supporting facilities such as a jetty for logistics and trade,” Phoong told reporters on Thursday.
Sedco, which owns about 500ha of land in Kudat, will spearhead the Kudat Industrial Park master plan.
He said the state Cabinet also approved the concept paper for the second industrial park on a 6,000ha plot in Kota Belud.
“Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP Sdn Bhd) will be in charge of preparing the masterplan,” he said.
"The area identified includes hilly terrains that would be suitable for the creation of renewable green energy," he added.
The third industrial park will be located in an area of about 2,000ha in the Beaufort district, he said, explaining that would not be in neighbouring Kimanis as it involved buying land from many landowners.
"The decision to relocate the industrial park from Kimanis to Beaufort was because there were too many landowners in Kimanis.
“We don’t want to have too many land acquisitions like the Pan Borneo. So we cancelled Kimanis and relocated to Beaufort,” he explained.
The Beaufort Industrial Park and Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC) will be drafting the master plan.
“I believe that the industrial parks will be a game changer for industry in Sabah," he said, adding that they have received a lot of queries from domestic and foreign investors.
"With these parks, we will not only have more factories but also more investments and the creation of more jobs for our youth. We will be able to create high quality and high pay job opportunities,” he added
