Sabah’s economy needs to be sustainable and resilient — Joachim
KOTA KINABALU: The idea of having a sustainable and resilient economy is becoming more relevant to Sabah than ever before post the Covid-19 pandemic.
And in order to have an economic recovery that is stronger, resilient, equitable and sustainable, several important issues need to be addressed properly, such as the lack of industries and job creation in Sabah, especially for the youths, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
Dr Joachim in his keynote address at the Series of Roundtable on Industrialisation and Job Creation for Youths in Sabah organised by Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah yesterday, said that there is a need to look at adopting newer, innovative and competitive means to adapt our growing industries to meet new opportunities spurred by the pandemic.
The Industrial Development Minister pointed out that in Sabah’s case, the state still needs to ensure that the production of basic supplies is maintained as it forms the bedrock for its industrial and manufacturing sectors to reach new heights.
“What we are offered here is to have a new lease on moving our industrialisation efforts to a level that is exciting and focused on preparing for the future,” he said.
Dr Joachim pointed out that the situation with youth unemployment was made worse by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The industrial and manufacturing sectors, he said, were most affected by the general closure of economic activities, the disruption in global value chains and the interruption in trade flows.
Even before the pandemic, uneven industrialisation was causing the migration of youths to Peninsular Malaysia and other countries in search of jobs, he said.
“The roundtable offers industrial players and the youth, the opportunity to participate in the discussion process, to voice out their opinions and share solutions in respect to industrialisation and job creation. I thank The Konrad-AdenauerStiftung and the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) for providing them with the unique arrangement of this roundtable,” he said.
The roundtable, according to him, is both an interesting and meaningful means of reaching out to the grassroots and letting them voice out their concerns, especially the youths.
The platform also enabled industrial players at the same time to reach out to youths and for youths to help other youths who may face similar problems or struggling with similar challenges, especially during this hard time.
“I was made to understand that the youths will present their videos on what industrialisation means to them; how it is being defined from their perspectives; how they want to inspire other youths to get involved in it; and provide a greater understanding on how youths can practically increase their participation in the digital economy.
“We hope that this platform will become a thorough discussion on how best to tackle youth unemployment; to share valuable information on current trends in addressing industrialisation and job creation; to explore policies that are most effective to encourage or motivate rapid industrialisation in Sabah and finding suitable approaches to address youth unemployment,” he said.
Dr Joachim also said that there is a need to gauge Sabah’s position as an industrial and manufacturing player at the regional level before the state can take flight on the international field.
“This is imperative as we must take stock of the market environment in Sabah to understand our strengths and weaknesses and drawing upon the new opportunities, coupled it with the successes of our contemporaries will give us a new framework to take advantage of the strengths and weaknesses we hope to see brought forward in these sessions in line with the state’s policy, Sabah Maju Jaya,” he added.
In his opening remarks, IDS Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari said the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption and hardship in every aspect of our lives and our economy and the industrial and manufacturing sectors were the most affected by the general closure of economic activities, the disruption in global value chains and the interruption in trade flows.
He said that before the pandemic, uneven industrialisation caused the migration of youths to Peninsular Malaysia and other countries in search of jobs.
“The unemployment of youth is made worse by the impact of the pandemic,” he stressed.
Dr Yaakub said the series of roundtable offered the youth the opportunity to participate in the discussion process, to voice their opinion and share solutions to progress.
These may be related to their studies, efforts in creating employment for themselves, and other opportunities involving youth, he said, adding that the platform also enabled them to reach out to other youths who may face similar problems or are struggling with similar challenges.
Their video presentations will also provide inspiration for other youths to follow and provide a better understanding on how they can increase their participation in the digital economy, he pointed out.
“This roundtable therefore is timely to help us gain insights, gather feedback and inputs that can mitigate the hardship of affected industries, to get updated on our government’s effort in helping the industries to prevent further loss of jobs, and find the solution on how to make our economy more resilient in facing similar economic shocks in the future,” said Dr Yaakub.