MCCC Sabah branch explores business opportunities in China cities
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Sabah branch has initiated a nine-day visit to Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau and other major cities in China for a series of courtesy calls and dialogues to explore business opportunities and collaboration.
The 33 delegates departed from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here on Saturday.
The chamber, led by president Datuk Frankie Liew, has invited the Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang, Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Pang Yuk Ming and Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Datuk Johnson Tee to join the delegation.
Teo said the objective of the visit was to promote closer cooperation between the entrepreneurs of Sabah and their counterparts in China.
He said the delegation comprised entrepreneurs from various sectors, including tourism, trading, building materials, construction and culture.
“These are the sectors where I believe there is a big room for us to work together to promote economic development in both places for the benefit of both Sabah and China.”
Teo said the delegation would be meeting representatives from China at provincial and city levels during the visit.
“At the same time, there will also be a platform for entrepreneurs from both places to meet up and do business matching.”
Teo was glad that the MCCC Sabah branch was taking the initiative to make the first move to get to know the business circles in China.
“By making such first move, we are quite positive that more investors will get to know us more and thus will come over to Sabah,” he said.
Meanwhile, Liew said the visit aimed to pave the way to establish collaboration between China and Sabah in potential areas, in line with the committee's goal of luring more investors into the state by going abroad and reaching out to them.
“This time, we are extremely honoured to have Datuk Teo Chee Kang, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming and Datuk Johnson Tee in this delegation.
“Their presence will certainly bring positive impacts to our activities,” he said, adding that this was the inaugural overseas visit organized by the third MCCC Sabah branch committee.
Based on his past visits to China with the national MCCC delegation, Liew pointed out that many places in China had heard of the renowned tourism and ecological paradise in Sabah but the Chinese investors had yet to meet potential local partners who fit their nature of business.
Hence, MCCC Sabah branch decided to approach government officials and chambers of commerce in China, which led to this visit.
“We hope the trip will yield fruitful outcomes. We will continue to organize more business-related visits and business matching activities for specific fields in the future if necessary.
“We also hope to invite government representatives and enterprises from China to Sabah to better enhance bilateral relations.”
Also in the delegation are MCCC Sabah branch advisor cum Sabah Timber Association president Datuk James Hwong, Kota Kinabalu Hokkien Association president Datuk Clement Yeh, Sabah Institute of Art (SIA) chief executive officer Professor Dato Dr Wilson Yong Tung Yung, MCCC Sabah branch life honorary advisor Datuk Lau Kok Sing, Sabah Tourism Federation (STF) president Datuk Seri Winston Liaw, Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA) Sabah Chapter chairman Lawrence Wong, political secretary to the Minister of Special Tasks, Peter Chong Su Leong and liaison secretary to the Minister of Special Tasks, Albert Kok.