KOTA KINABALU Its the economy and not political ideology that determines the strengths and successes of a country, according to SAPP President, Datuk Yong Teck Lee, in his speech to party delegates at its biennial conference that was conducted online yesterday.
Yong explained that this was his view after studying recent global events.
“We do not have to keep talking about our abundant natural resources, our racial harmony and our political stability as though these are our only advantages to make our country strong. Sabah also can forge ahead if we can strengthen our economy in a big way in the shortest possible time,” said Yong.
“I believe that we have to pay more attention to the need for more connectivity and connection as new assets that Sabah and Sabahans must possess in order to create wealth for the people.”
“In brief, connectivity means the logistics, the air, sea and land linkages to other countries that we need in order to benefit from international trade and investments. Connections are the guanxi (in Chinese) or hubungan rapat (in Bahasa) with the peoples of other countries, especially our neighbours, that can give rise to benefits in terms of trade and investments,” said Yong who was referring to neighbouring countries in BIMP-EAGA and China as Sabah’s biggest trading partners. BIMP-EAGA consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.
Yong said that he foresees that the future frontiers of Sabah are the air space and maritime space which hold much potential for wealth creation for Sabahans. “But Sabah is weak in both our aviation and maritime sectors”, lamented Yong who was outlining his views on the economic prospects of Sabah.
“This is where more creative ideas are needed to develop the aviation and maritime assets of Malaysia to benefit Sabah,” said Yong.
*The 3E of investments*
In attracting investments, especially by foreign investors, Yong expounded the principle that Sabah should give a simple, easy to understand “3Es Principle”.
“The 3Es are Economy, Employment and Environment. In simple terms that are easy for foreign investors to understand, all investments in Sabah must generate wealth by way of economic growth, must create employment (jobs) and must sustain the environment. When foreign investors accept this 3E principle, they will know what Sabah expects of them as investors,” explained Yong.
The one day virtual conference was the first time that SAPP had held its conference after the state elections in September last year.-pr/BNN
