Labuan development blueprint to spur island’s economy
LABUAN: Labuan has prepared a long-term economic development plan, namely the “Labuan Development Blueprint”, to aggressively spur the island’s economy in tandem with the national development.
Labuan Member of Parliament, Datuk Rozman Isli said a number of development projects had been approved by the government through the Labuan Corporation (LC) for implementation beginning next year.
“We are aggressively preparing infrastructure developments to both spur the economy and tourism sector, as we want the island to be equipped with the necessary infrastructure to lure investors and visitors,” he added.
He was speaking at the presentation of the 2nd Localised Nature Guide Course Certificate to 20 recipients yesterday.
The blueprint is scheduled to be launched by Prime Minster Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in January next year. He said among the projects approved via joint ventures are the 60-unit premium outlets development on a 30-acre land near the Labuan International Golf Club (LIGC), a six-star hotel and shopping mall, a RM300 million four-star hotel venture, shopping mall and service apartments, an international convention centre, the Membedai- Tg Aru- Town coastal road project (to ease traffic congestion), a mini water theme park, redevelopment of the public marina with an attached floating restaurant and redevelopment of beaches projects.
“We have identified the areas for these projects which will be a game changer to Labuan’s economic landscape,” Rozman said.
He also said infrastructure was synonymous with development and a lack of services related to it signalled barriers to growth and overall development.
Rozman who is also LC chairman said infrastructure played a crucial role in society and economy by providing services to households and industry.
“The backbone of the island’s economic progress is infrastructure development, which has become synonymous with economic and overall development.
“Infrastructure consists of hard and soft components.The hard or visiblecomponentmustbecombined with the soft infrastructure, which includes policies and regulations. This is to allow the infrastructure system to perform and have the intended impact,’ he added.
On tourist arrivals, he said, although there had been a slight decline, the number of foreign visitors, especially from China had surged. — Bernama