Tina Yang (ninth from right) presenting a handmade silk painting as a souvenir to Datuk Frankie Liew (centre) after the meeting.
KOTA KINABALU (Aug 9): Sabah offers favourable investment conditions, says Sabah China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) president Datuk Frankie Liew.
He encourages China businessmen and entrepreneurs to invest in the State and participate in the Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home program to facilitate future residency and investment processes.
Liew made these remarks yesterday when receiving a delegation from Hubei and Henan, China.
Led by Liew, the SCCC held a meeting yesterday in its conference room, where they discussed with business representatives from Hubei and Henan.
The delegation from Hubei and Henan was headed by Tina Yang, General Manager of CITIC Environmental Technology/Wuhan Xinfeng Optoelectronics Henan, and included members such as Wang Peng, Chairman of Zhengzhou Shenglong Co., Ltd.; Song Hongzhu, Overseas Manager; Chen Feifei, Director; Ge Jun, Vice President and Director of Overseas Project Office of the Tianjin Branch of China Electronics Engineering Design Institute; Hu Qiaochu, Vice President of the Tianjin Branch; Yu Qiangsheng, Business Manager; Liu Hao, Electromechanical Engineer; and Zhu Hongwei, Electrical Engineer.
The delegation represented prominent enterprises, with Wuhan Xinfeng Optoelectronics focusing primarily on hydroelectric engineering; China Electronics Engineering Design Institute being a leader in photovoltaic power generation; and Zhengzhou Shenglong Co., Ltd. being a major developer and manufacturer of 3D large screens, 3D virtual simulation platforms, and intelligent optoelectronic display equipment.
Liew mentioned that there has been a growing number of China enterprises and investors exploring investment and cooperation opportunities in Sabah.
He emphasized that the current timing offers favourable conditions for China investment in Sabah.
“Timing” refers to the fact that in this era of trade wars and protectionism, Malaysia, by maintaining a highly neutral stance, has not sided with the US against China. As a result, Malaysia has become a preferred destination for many investments and capacity relocations, as well as a safe haven for technology-driven capital investments.
He noted that in Peninsular Malaysia, there are high-tech industries such as semiconductors and cloud data centers. In Sabah, Chinese and Korean enterprises have also been making significant investments, including Kibing Group’s photovoltaic glass project and SKC’s world’s largest copper foil factory for lithium-ion batteries.
“Sabah’s strategic location in the center of ASEAN, closer to China, allows for three-hour flights to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Macau and Taiwan, and five to six-hour flights to Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing, with an increasing number of direct flights.
Liew highlighted that Sabah serves as a gateway to a vast market of 600 million people in ASEAN and 1.4 billion in China. Moreover, Sabah is free from severe natural disasters, earning it the nickname “The Land Below the Wind.”
“From our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, there is a strong emphasis on maintaining good relations and friendship with China, especially in fostering economic, cultural and educational investment cooperation. The Prime Minister, Federal ministers, Sabah Chief Minister and other officials have all visited China multiple times for various investment promotion and governmental activities,” he said.
Liew also introduced Sabah to the China business representatives, emphasizing that while Sabah is rich in resources, it is sparsely populated and lacks infrastructure.
“However, from the perspective of investors and entrepreneurs, this represents significant development and investment opportunities. Our infrastructure, such as water, electricity and roads, has substantial demand, and the current government led by Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, places great emphasis on infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture and food processing industries.”
He stated that to express Sabah’s recognition of China capital and investments, Hajiji not only endorses the federal visa policy, following the mutual visa exemption for tourism between Malaysia and China, but has also formulated a more flexible, Sabah-exclusive Malaysia My Second Home program.
The SCCC president urged China enterprises and investors to invest in Sabah while applying for the Second Home program to facilitate future work and investment processes.
Liew also expressed his hope that China entrepreneurs will maintain long-term friendly relations with Sabah, working together to contribute to the economic investment cooperation and development between Sabah and China, and to create more new opportunities.
