CM assures friendly, safe environment for tourists
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Government took serious note of the unpleasant incident involving Chinese tourists which happened not long ago, said the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal.
“I can assure you that the government will vigorously study countermeasures to solve the problem and prevent it from happening again.”
He said this year marked the Visit Malaysia 2020 and MalaysiaChina Cultural Tourism Year.
“We look forward to more tourists from China coming to Sabah for their vacation.
“Sabah will try its best to create a friendly and safe environment for tourists, and we warmly welcome Chinese tourists coming to Sabah.”
Shafie stated that in his speech, which was delivered by the Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew, at the Chinese New Year reception hosted by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Kota
Kinabalu here yesterday.
The event was graced by the Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and his consort, Toh Puan Norlidah R.M. Jasni.
He said China and Malaysia had celebrated the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations last year.
At the same time, he said Sabah and China had made significant progress in trade and bilateral cooperation.
“Last April, I visited Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces in China, during which important consensus was reached with local leaders on strengthening cooperation in various fields.
“Other senior officials of the Sabah Government also visited China for further enhancement of our bilateral relationship.”
On behalf of the State Government, Shafie expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Consulate General for facilitating and assisting in promoting exchanges between Sabah and China.
He said the Sabah Government hoped to further strengthen communication and cooperation with China to follow up results achieved during the visits.
In addition, he said Sabah was strategically located and could play an important role in regional cooperation.
Last year, he said the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was successfully held in Beijing, and it is a favourable opportunity for the development of Malaysia and Sabah.
“The Sabah Government is willing to work with the Chinese Consulate General, in making this state an important hub for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road for mutual benefit and progress.”
Shafie also said that the State Government had issued a series of policies to attract investment last year.
“This year, we will continue to create a good environment for investors.
“As I have repeatedly stated, in the meeting with entrepreneurs from China, we welcome China enterprises to invest and start their businesses in Sabah and we will facilitate them for this purpose.”
Meanwhile, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in
Kota Kinabalu, Liang Caide, said Sabah was becoming an “internet celebrity” of tourist destination in the eyes of China tourists.
He said there were lots of positive reviews about Sabah's beautiful islands and delicious cuisine on the Internet.
“As of the first 11 months of last year, the number of China tourists who visited Sabah approached 560,000, creating huge tourism revenue for Sabah.
“This year marks the Visit Malaysia 2020 while the ChinaMalaysia Cultural Tourism Year is about to be launched.
“We hope that every Chinese tourist who visits Sabah will come happily and return with wonderful memories, and Sabah could become a hospitable and friendly tourism paradise that tourists long for and love.”
On another note, he thanked the Sabah State Government and Shafie for the great concern and active support given to ChinaSabah cooperation.
“I also thank the various Chinese communities, Chinese Chambers of Commerce, Chinese enterprises and overseas students in Sabah for making significant contributions to promote China-Sabah economic and trade cooperation, to enhance cultural exchanges of the two places as well as to preserving the Chinese traditional culture.
“It is the efforts from all of us that bring together a closer ChinaSabah relation to achieve a major leap forward in cooperation.”
Liang added that the year 2020 would be a key milestone in the history of both China and Malaysia.
He said China would realize a prosperous society; eliminate absolute poverty; attain the first centenary goal in the process of achieving China's national rejuvenation; while Malaysia would be hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit.
He said these efforts and event, coupled with the China-Malaysia Cultural Tourism Year, would provide a golden opportunity to promote China-Malaysia relations and China-Sabah cooperation.
“We are willing to work with the Sabah State Government and people from all walks of life to seize the opportunities, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and work hard to achieve progress to jointly create a better tomorrow for China-Malaysia friendly relation and China-Sabah cooperation.”
Also present were Minister of Health and People's Wellbeing Datuk Frankie Poon, Minister of Youth and Sports Phoong Jin Zhe, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Jimmy Wong, The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) president Tan Sri Dr TC Goh, Likas assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt, Sabah United Chinese Chambers of Commerce president Tan Sri Andrew Liew Sui Fatt and leaders from the Chinese community.