DCM: Sabah committed to develop services sector industry
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, said the state government is committed to further develop its services sector as a main income generator.
He said the services sectors, especially the knowledge-intensive and business services, were increasingly recognised as supporting the manufacturing sector and acted as levers to boost economic growth and development.
Tan, who is also the state Industrial Development Minister, said the knowledge-intensive service providers today were no longer being perceived only as specialised knowledge carriers but also as connectors, technology transfer agents and problem-solvers.
“The government has been actively involved in the development of the services industry in the last four decades.
“The Sabah Economic Development Corp, which was set up in 1971, aims to assist the government stimulate industrial, commercial and socio-economic development of the state,” he said.
Tan said this when officiating a seminar on ‘Government Initiatives to Propel the Services Sector’, organised by Malaysia Industrial Development Authority (Mida) and Sabab Industrial Development Ministry yesterday.
Tan said the state government’s commitment in driving the services sector could also be seen in the implementation of the Sabah Corridor Blueprint where tourism and logistics industries had been identified as the economic drivers in Sabah.
Among the programmes, he said, were to address the basic and laying tourism foundations for future growth as well as putting in place the world-class tourism infrastructure and services, including nurturing vibrant arts and culture scenes.
“The other programmes were to strengthen Sabah’s position as a premier eco-adventure destination through conservation, research and sustainable development of new tourism products anchored by signature resorts,” he said.
Speaking to reporters later, Tan said the abundance of about 30 million tonnes of bio-mass in Sabah and the state’s bio-diversity were other important economic potentials that needed to be developed. — Bernama
Source: Borneo Post
