12Sep

Singapore, Sabah to further strengthen economic ties

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 8 — Singapore says it wants to continue to strengthen economic, trade and investment ties with Sabah especially in tourism, technical and vocational education as well as property development. Its Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is on the second day of his three-day working visit to Sabah, said the matter was discussed with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal. “I’m very happy to be here in Kota Kinabalu and also to be discussing further cooperation between Singapore and Sabah. We discussed a number of things on how we can work more closely together. “Both (Singapore and Sabah) have an interest in more economic ties, trade and investment and also in tourism particularly. I think (tourism) that’s a wonderful product that Sabah has. Many Singaporeans have already come and visited (Sabah). “We hope that we are able to increase that and perhaps investment in tourism,” he said at a press conference here today. Teo said Sabah has a variety of attractive tourism destinations including in Sandakan, Tawau and Semporna in the east coast. He also invited Mohd Shafie to make an official visit to the island republic to discuss in further detail cooperation between the two sides. Meanwhile, Mohd Shafie said the two leaders also discussed the launch of direct flights from Singapore to Sabah’s east coast, adding the state will send a team to the island republic to explore ways to develop its technical and vocational education. “We can learn a lot from Singapore and how we can advance on this,” he said. — Bernama   Source: Malay Mail
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07Sep

Sabah benefits from Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape project

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has benefitted tremendously from the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Project. Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Junz Wong described the initiative, which was a Coral Triangle (CTI) project jointly implemented by partners from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines as an avenue to provide opportunities for regional learning exchanges. “The Seascape model provides guidance for the Coral Triangle countries in establishing and managing large marine, trans-boundary ecosystems such as seascapes,” Junz said in his speech read by his political secretary Rakam Sijim at the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Project Regional and National Closing Event on Thursday. He pointed out the project had also given a positive impact on the preservation of the Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), which was established on May 19, 2016 and is also the largest marine park in Malaysia, covering 898,762.76 hectares. “The Integrated Management Plan of the TMP is focused on bringing together relevant stakeholders to manage the park. With the support of the Sulu Sulawesi Seascape Project, Sabah Parks had implemented several preparatory activities working towards the establishment of a collaborative approach to manage the TMP. “One of the key achievements is the formation of a multi-agency enforcement committee called the Tun Mustapha Park Collaborative Enforcement Committee (TMP-CEC),” he added. He pointed out that Sabah shares many valuable resources in the Sulu-Sulawesi seas, particularly the species that are migratory or fish stocks that straddle the state’s borders such as groupers, tunas and small pelagic. Designated as a priority seascape under the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reef Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) by the six member countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste), the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape serves as a geographic focus of investments, actions, conservation and climate change related results under the CTI-CFF Regional Plan of Action (RPOA). Among those present in the event were Sulu-Sulawesi Project director Franca Sprong, the Economic Councillor to the German Embassy of Kuala Lumpur Jens Brinckmann, Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais and Sabah Fisheries Department director Dr Ahemad Sade.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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07Sep

RM8 billion expected from Sabah’s tourism industry this year

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s tourism industry is expected to contribute RM8 billion in tourism receipts this year, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew. Liew, who is also the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said tourist arrivals to the State had been shown a steady growth from 3.4 million in 2013 to 3.7 million in 2017, with an increase in revenue contribution from RM6.35 billion to RM7.8 billion in the same period. “For 2018, we are looking at RM8 billion in tourism receipts.” For the first half of 2018, she said tourist arrivals into Sabah was registered at 1.892 million compared to 1.796 million for the same period last year, which marked an increase of 96,026 or 5.35 per cent. “International arrivals made up 16.57 per cent of this increase, with China market as the largest contributor to the increase foreign arrivals.” To further boost the tourism industry in Sabah, Liew said her ministry would continue its effort to attract more tourists from Asian countries, especially China, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as to increase the share of the European market. Liew stated that in her speech, which was delivered by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, when launching the Seminar on Development of Sustainable Tourism in the Rural Areas of Sabah organized by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah in collaboration with the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) here yesterday. She said the ministry also planned to develop and promote other tourist destinations, especially in the east coast of Sabah including Tawau, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Sandakan to bring about more holistic approach to tourism development in Sabah. She said the east coast towns had not been performing well in the past due to security and safety reasons. Nonetheless, Liew said the situation in the east coast area had improved tremendously with new strategic measures put in place to boost the security of the coastal areas and the close cooperation between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia in border security surveillance. She said many areas with potential for tourism development in the east coast towns could be turned into tourism destinations to cater to the increasing numbers of tourists arriving in Sabah. On another note, she emphasized on the need for Sabah to keep up with the advancement of technology in this digital and artificial intelligence (AI) era in order to remain competitive in the tourism industry and be on par with other destinations in the region. She said the tremendous growth in tourism sectors globally, including Sabah, was due to the strong market support and the advancement of digital technologies and AI. With the click of the internet, she said holiday seekers could access information about destinations, transportation, tour packages and accommodation. She stressed that the trend of going cashless and paying by payment apps for tourists from more technically advanced countries in the Asian region such as South Korea, China and Taiwan would become a normal feature in the tourism sector in the very near future. “Many tourism related business operators in Sabah are already embracing this mode of payment.” Also present were IDS Sabah chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, IDS Sabah senior associate director Jenny Liaw and STB general manager Suzaini Datuk Sabdin Ghani.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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07Sep

Mt Kinabalu steps into Lonely Planet’s book on world’s most epic hikes

PETALING JAYA: Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia's highest peak in the land below the wind, has been listed as one of the world's 50 most incredible hikes in Lonely Planet's new guidebook on hiking trails around the world. In the newly-published Epic Hikes of the World, around 200 Lonely Planet writers collaborated to uncover 50 incredible hiking routes in 30 countries. A sneak peek of the book by British-based website MailOnline revealed that Mount Kinabalu in Sabah was highlighted as one of the planet's most thrilling walking routes. Scaling Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, incorporates "tangled jungle, granite ridges and barren plateaux, traversing Borneo's highest and holiest mountain is a task that requires nerves – and legs – of steel", it said.
Other hiking trails in Asia that made the book includes the 88 Sacred Temples of Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, the Markha Valley in India, and the Gubeikou to Jinshanling on the Great Wall of China. In Africa and the Middle East, Lonely Planet recommends Cape Town's Three Peaks in South Africa, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and the Camp to Camp in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park. Some of the best European hiking trails named were Wordsworth's Backyard: Dove Cottage and around Rydal and Grasmere in the UK, the Alpine Pass Route in Switzerland and the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Closer to Asia, the Sydney's Seven Bridges Walk in Australia and the Routeburn Track in New Zealand were listed as the top hikes in Oceania. Towering at 4,095m tall or 13,435 feet above sea level, Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It is Malaysia's first Unesco World Heritage Site and home to an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 plant species, 326 bird species, and over 100 mammal species. The summit to Low's Peak is popular amongst travellers worldwide, with many seasoned hikers making the trip to Sabah specifically to accomplish the arduous trek. Source: The Star Online
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05Sep

Nationwide beach clean-up Sept 22

KOTA KINABALU: Reef Check Malaysia, together with The Body Shop and Coca-Cola Malaysia, is organizing a nationwide beach clean-up on September 22 in conjunction with the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) Day. Several partners and friends from individuals to companies, have agreed to lead beach clean-ups in area of their choice. This effort is part of our long battle against marine debris, which is also our focus for the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2018. This clean-up will be the second in a series of events that RCM has planned for the International Year of the Reef 2018. RCM conducted a beach clean-up in March, on a much smaller scale. This clean-up saw 500 people in 16 locations around Malaysia, and they collected over 2.6 tonnes of trash from 15km of coastline, including 15,974 plastic bottles, 6,884 plastic bags, 2,368 cigarette butts and 203 diapers. These clean-up efforts are intended to raise awareness and bring attention to the problem of marine debris, specifically plastic waste, which represents a serious threat to marine ecosystems. Plastics are also making their way into the food chain and will harm us in the future. However, it has to be about more than just doing continuing clean-ups. RCM sees the need to go beyond clean-ups and to eventually stop having to do away with them altogether. RCM says they are working at getting to the source of the trash and stopping the trash from reaching beaches. To achieve this, they are collaborating with a number of partners from industry and government to find solutions to reduce trash on our beaches, all towards a target of no more beach clean-ups in 10 years. A workshop in late July gathered representatives from brands, plastic manufacturers and suppliers, government, waste management companies and recycling companies, to agree the terms of reference for a multi-stakeholder workshop to be held in November. Further events include the ICC event, a workshop with plastic specialists Plasticity in October and the final workshop in November. All these workshops in this plastic waste campaign are co-led by RCM and Coca-Cola. The organisers have recruited many partners and volunteers across the country, who will be joining them in many locations on September 2 (updated locations are posted on their Facebook group). If you want to commit to organizing a team of volunteers (friends, family, colleagues) for a few hours on that day, please email to organisers (cleanup@reefcheck.org.my) so that they can send more information on how to organize a beach clean-up and collect data which will help them identify long-term solutions for trash-fee seas.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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