Boats to ferry tourists from Tawau to Semporna
KOTA KINABALU: A businessman has proposed the use of China-made bigger and safer boats that can accommodate 80 to 100 people, to ferry tourists for inter-island trips not only in the west coast but also from Tawau to Semporna.
It takes one hour to travel by road from Tawau to Semporna but a boat trip will shorten the time, Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Sabah Branch president Datuk Frankie C.T. Liew said when he made the proposal to Deputy Chief Minister cum Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew during a courtesy call on Monday.
Frankie had also informed Christina that Chinese investors are very interested to tap into the potential of some Sabah islands which can be developed as tourist hotspots.
Christina said the State Government welcomes Chinese investors who are keen to come and invest in Sabah’s burgeoning tourism industry.
Hopefully, their aspirations will be translated into economic realities, she said.
She was very happy to meet Frankie and his delegation and had a fruitful exchange of views in terms of promoting bilateral trade between China and Sabah, as well as wooing Chinese investments for tourism development or growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sabah.
“Such operation could be a joint venture with locals, thereby creating job opportunities for our young people. Given China’s rise as an economic powerhouse, we must capitalise on Chinese tourists’ purchasing power.
“In this regard, I encourage individual entrepreneurs and businesses to aggressively promote their products. These must be attractively packaged and reasonably priced to catch their attention,” she said.
From the mnistry’s perspective, it wants tour operators to get tourists to patronise souvenir shops, stores selling ethnic handicraft items and others offering local food products, she added.
MCCC Sabah Branch also proposed a ‘Visa on Arrival Only’ for tourists from China.
Christina explained that the government does not have this policy in place at the moment and any such policy needs to be approved by the Cabinet and announced by the Chief Minister.
She also accepted an invitation from MCCC Sabah Branch to be the guest of honour for their Mooncake Festival celebration on September 7.
Founded in 1990, MCCC is a non-government, non-profit, multi-ethnic business association. It aims at promoting interaction, cooperation and development in trade, investments and other industrial and commercial fields between Malaysia and China besides protecting the interests of our members.
Present during the visit were the ministry’s permanent secretary, Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, MCCC Sabah Branch first vice-president cum president of SME Association of Sabah, Foo Ngee Kee, vice-president Dato’ Soh Poh Soon, secretary Michael Chin Wee Yee, deputy secretary Tan Siew Ling and treasurer Brett Chua and the chamber’s council members.