Sabah looks forward to enhanced bilateral relations with Brunei
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Sabah looks forward to enhanced bilateral relations with Brunei Darussalam now that borders on both sides have reopened.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said he is optimistic cooperation in various fields, especially trade will grow seeing that Sabah’s trade with Brunei grew more than four folds from RM311.7 million in 2017 to RM1.48 billion in August 2022.
Sabah always values the relations with Brunei, said the Chief Minister during an audience with the Ruler of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman here on Thursday. Hajiji also shared with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah the achievements of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah – Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) State Government’s Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development roadmap.
Since the GRS-BN State Government took over the reins of administration two years ago, Sabah has recorded RM5.449 billion in revenue in 2021, achieved RM389 million in domestic investments from January to June 2022 and RM9.9 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from January to September this year.
Hajiji said Sabah also welcomed visitors from Brunei, which has grown steadily after the reopening of borders with the first Royal Brunei Airlines flight into the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on May 6 this year.
Following border reopening, Bruneians also travelled by road to visit Sabah beginning Aug 1 this year.
A total of 78,605 Bruneians visited Sabah in 2019 but the numbers plunged to 5,494 in 2020 following border shutdowns.
Hajiji also extended an invitation to the Sultan for a reciprocal visit to Sabah. Making his first visit to Brunei Darussalam since his appointment as Chief Minister, Hajiji was accompanied by State Assembly Speaker Datuk Haji Kadzim Yahya, Special Tasks Minister Datuk Arifin Arif and State Secretary Datuk Seri Panglima Sr Haji Safar Untong.