Guangdong supports Sabah collaboration
GUANGZHOU, CHINA: Secretary of the CPC Committee of Guangdong Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Zeng Qingrong, has pledged to extend his full support to Sabah enterprises seeking to collaborate with their counterparts in China.
Zeng said he would also provide the necessary services and arrangements to companies from Sabah.
He said this during a dialogue with the Malaysia China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Sabah branch delegation, led by Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang, Deputy Speaker of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Datuk Dr Johnson Tee and president of the chamber Datuk Frankie Liew.
The delegation is on a nine-day visit to major cities in China from March 4 to 12.
Zeng said dialogues with the relevant department and business matching with Chinese enterprises could be arranged when the MCCC Sabah branch returned for another visit to Guangzhou.
He also lauded the delegation for their strong intent in establishing collaboration with their counterparts in China.
He added that many Guangdong- based enterprises wished to expand their operations beyond the country and thus, arrangements could be made to connect them with local companies in Sabah.
Zeng also invited MCCC Sabah branch to the Belt and Road conference this year, which has attained immense success in the Southeast Asia region as many Chinese enterprises have jointly launched collaborative projects with the local overseas Chinese.
Meanwhile, Teo reiterated that the Sabah state government, with the backing of the federal government, has plans to upgrade the state into a logistics hub in the region within the next two years.
He hoped that Sabah could establish strategic partnership with the Guangdong Province when the upgrade was completed, whereby the State could serve as a transhipment centre for goods from Guangdong destined for the Southeast Asia region.
On the other hand, Liew said the majority of Chinese people in Sabah originated from Guangdong Province, and they therefore maintained close ties at both the government-to-government and people-to-people level with their counterparts in China.
Since the third executive committee of the chamber was formed, Liew said the MCCC Sabah branch has been working hard to promote bilateral trade and investment between both countries.
"We should leverage on our connections and cultural similarities with Guangdong to explore possible business opportunities," he said.
Liew said it was high time for Sabah and Guangdong to explore and study ways to expand trade and investment collaborations to other sectors, such as property development, tourism and agriculture.
He believed that this visit was a good start for Sabahan entrepreneurs to seek out Chinese companies who complement their business operations, thereby forging a win-win partnership.
Moving on, the delegation headed for Shenzhen where they met with Shenzhen Overseas Exchange Association president Ma YongZhi, Xiao Ronghui from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People's Government of Shenzhen Municipality and The Global Business Club president Chen Yuhe.
Ma said Sabah and Shenzhen have established a strong foundation for collaboration over the years and he hoped that more exchanges and partnerships could be forged in the future.
He said this during a dialogue with the delegation headed by Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Pang Yuk Ming.
In another event held by The Global Business Club, Pang hoped that more entrepreneurs from Shenzhen and China would invest in Sabah, especially in building more hotels.
"We have lands in Sabah while you (China entrepreneurs) have huge capital. I believe there is much opportunities to explore in this sector," he said.
The event also saw the signing of three separate letters of intent (LOI) between the MCCC Sabah branch and Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) to establish cooperation with their China counterparts.
Also present were 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 Prof Dato' Dr Wilson Yong Tung Yung, MCCC Sabah branch life honorary advisor Datuk Lau Kok Sing and Satta president Datuk Seri Winston Liaw.