Chinese firms urged to invest in Sabah tourism facilities
KOTA KINABALU: MalaysiaChina Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Sabah branch president Datuk Frankie Liew has urged Chinese firms to consider investing in tourism facilities in Sabah.
He said the pleasant environment, picturesque views, beautiful sunset and worldrenowned diving spots in Sabah have attracted many foreign tourists to the State.
“Our transportation, five-star hotels and other tourism facilities still have a lot of room for development. These are aspects which Chinese investors could consider.”
Liew said this during a dialogue session with a delegation comprising entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau here yesterday. A majority of the delegates are in the information technology (IT), digital products and e-commerce business.
Apart from being the main producing state for oil and gas and palm oil in Malaysia, he said the tourism sector was also one of the main industries of Sabah.
“Last year, Sabah had recorded 3.5 million tourist arrivals, 440,000 of them were from China and Taiwan. Some 380,000 of the tourists are from China alone.”
He said Sabah was now accessible by direct flights from Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Additionally, Malindo Air will be mounting more direct flights from China to Sabah beginning this July, which is expected to boost China tourist arrivals to 500,000 this year.”
Starting July 12, Liew said Malindo Air had mounted thrice weekly direct flights from Chengdu to Sabah, four times weekly direct flights from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu, and thrice weekly direct flights from Changsha to Kota Kinabalu in September.
“Malindo Air is making 93 charter flight trips from eight cities in China in July and August alone, including Zhengzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Chongqing, Wenzhou, Changsha, Suzhou and Xi'an.
“We believe that this would promote even closer ties between various parts of China and Sabah."
On the other hand, Liew said Chinese investments in Sabah had a relatively slow start compared to West Malaysia. Nonetheless, he said some Chinese firms have noticed the potentials in Sabah.
“Companies such as China Railway, Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC Group) and Guangdong Guangken Rubber Group Co Ltd have invested or collaborated in property development and agriculture projects in Sabah.
“There are also smaller Chinese firms and investors who collaborated with Sabahans in tourism-related businesses, such as travel agencies, hotels, resorts and seafood restaurants.”
Furthermore, Liew said Sabah could be leveraged as the springboard to penetrate into the 600 million population market in the Southeast Asia (SEA) and east ASEAN regions due to its strategic location.
“Sabah is located at the centre of SEA and is within three to five hours flight time away from major Asian cities like Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Philippines.”
He said the delegation could approach MCCC Sabah branch for assistance in penetrating the large halal food market in SEA and Middle East.
Also present were MCCC Sabah branch vice president Foo Ngee Kee, secretary Michael Chin, treasurer Datuk Soh Poh Soon, vice treasurer Datuk Liew Siew Kian and Shenzhen IndustryUniversity-Research Institute Collaboration Association cum China Industry-UniversityResearch Investment and Financing Union secretary general Lotus Bai.