By Olivia Miwil - March 22, 2021 @ 2:05pm
KOTA KINABALU: The prime minister today assured Sabahans that the government will take all necessary measures to ensure the state was on par with others in the country.
Acknowledging that Sabah did lack in certain areas, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said under the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK-12), the government has emphasised equal financial resources for the development of the state.
"After a year in power, the Perikatan Nasional government has initiated various programmes to fulfil the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030," he said during a townhall session at the state administrative centre here.
Present at the session were Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Tasks) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof and other Cabinet ministers.
On how the government would ensure balanced development and job opportunities for skilled workers in Sabah, Muhyiddin said among efforts would be to improve connectivity and better infrastructures.
He said by having better connectivity and providing training for people to venture into online businesses, it would help them market products and increase their income.
"The development of infrastructure has to be planned 10 years ahead, under the 12th and 13th Malaysia Plans. We will improve and speed it up just like the Pan Borneo Highway," he said.
As for more job opportunities in Sabah for locals, Muhyiddin said both the state and federal governments had to look for better incentives to attract foreign investors to set up businesses here.
He added that due to the fierce competition among countries to get investments, the government was mulling more attractive incentives after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Exports from Sabah last year were valued at RM41.4 billion and imports at RM38.1 billion.
As for the manufacturing sector, investments approved by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) for Sabah last year was RM11.95 billion for 15 projects.
Earlier, Muhyiddin said for the first phase of RMK-12, 1,039 development projects with an allocation of RM5.01 billion have been approved for Sabah.
Among the main projects were the Pan Borneo Highway project, expansion of Sepanggar Bay Container Port, upgrading of 50 dilapidated schools and connecting roads at rural areas in the state.
On tackling poverty and inclusive development, a special native programme was set up to oversee native customs, native courts and human capital development.
In Sabah, there are 1.52 million people who live in rural areas which accounts for about 20 per cent of rural citizens in the country.
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