Sabah Chapter ACCI president Datuk Nordin Ening.
KOTA KINABALU: Entrepreneurs must start looking for fresh markets to sustain and expand their businesses in the wake of the United States’ 24% tariff on Malaysian imports.
The Sabah Chapter Asean Chamber of Commerce (ACCI) president Datuk Nordin Bin Ening said potential alternative markets for exploration include Asean, Africa, Central Asia and West Asia.
“We need to divert more of our focus on countries that offer huge potential for Malaysian products, specifically in the halal sector, food, technology and services, tourism and education,” he said in a statement on Monday (April 7).
He added that Sabah ACCI is planning a two-way trade with Kazakhstan together with the state Tourism, Culture and Environment ministry.
“Kazakhstan is a double landlocked country and its people thirst for the islands and nature which Sabah can offer,” said Nordin.
He said there are currently direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Almaty, Kazakhstan, which should be exploited.
“We need to look beyond the US market because it is no longer a dependable market for us,” he stated.
The tariff is set to take effect on April 9, 2025.
On another note, former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee recently said that Sabah’s exports to the US consist mainly of oil and gas, wood products and palm oil, and just very recently - an increasing amount of copper foil.
He said that Sabah’s main exports, which also consist of wood products, seafood, silica sand and food products, mainly go to North-East Asian countries like China, Japan, Korea and India, Europe and ASEAN countries and Peninsular Malaysia.
Yong said Sabah’s estimated direct export of goods to the US for this year is estimated to be around 1% of Sabah’s total exports, which means only around RM1bil out of RM100bil exports go to the US.
