KOTA KINABALU: Two books on Sabah-Kalimantan economy were launched on 18 September 2019.
It was announced during the opening ceremony of the Second International Conference on Economics in Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel, Kota Kinabalu.
The first book was published in 2018 and the second book was just published in august 2019. Over 20 authors from Sabah, Indonesia and China were involved in contributing chapters for the book.
When being asked about the aims of publishing the book, Dr Rafiq Idris, who is a Senior Lecturer in UMS, Associate Fellow at the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, who is also the chief editor for both books said, ‘there has been growing interests with regard to the idea of strengthening economic relations with our neighbor, Kalimantan, due to the fact that their market size is about half of Malaysian population size, the per capita income in East and North Kalimantan is slightly higher than Sabah and the recent announcement by Indonesian president to relocate Indonesian capital city to East Kalimantan.
“In this regard, I and other researchers felt that it is high time to consider the idea of having road connectivity with Kalimantan. Prior to that, it is good to know more about our neighbor, to understand their economy, resources, infrastructure and culture.”
“More studies are needed to quantify the potential benefits and costs of having road connectivity with Kalimantan. Indeed, it is not an option. Other possible effects should not be overlooked,” he stated.
Dr Rafiq Idris as the head of both book projects thanked Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah (SEEDS), Sabah Economic and Education Society and the man behind the project the late Datuk Badil Zaman for their support.-pr/BNN
