LAHAD DATU: The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) has called on the Federal government to strive to assist the Sabah state government to attract more investors, both domestic and foreign, to invest in the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu.
Its President Tan Sri T.C Goh said this is necessary in order to transform POIC Lahad Datu into a key palm oil downstream processing hub in the world.
Goh who is also a member of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council (SEAC) acknowledged that POIC Lahad Datu is one of the key strategic projects in the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Roadmap, which among others aimed to accelerate industrialization of Sabah, to provide quality employments for the people of Sabah, and to boost the state economy.
“The the declaration of POIC Lahad Datu Port’s full operation as a public port, in June this year, has obviously given more weight to Lahad Datu as a key player in the global palm oil market,” he added.
Goh who is also President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) and The Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations (FSLHA) expressed this while leading the delegation of exco members of FCAS and FSLHA in a visit to POIC Lahad Datu, on Wednesday. Goh and his delegation were warmly received by POIC Chairman, Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee and its Board of Directors, during the visit and tour of the POIC and its port.
Goh reiterated that, following the re-opening of our economic sectors and our borders, after the Covid-19 pandemic subsided, the Federal government should step up efforts to assist the Sabah state government to boost its economic and investment sectors, and this includes to attract more domestic and foreign investors to set up operations in POIC Lahad Datu.
He said POIC Lahad Datu was set up by the Sabah State Government in 2005 to spearhead the development of palm oil downstream processing to add value to its 1.55 million hectares of oil palm plantations, to create jobs and business opportunities.
He went on to note that the POIC Lahad Datu Port has been in operation since 2013 but it was restricted to the cargo of investors at the industrial park.
He was convinced that with its declaration as a public port this year, it is poised to bring about more positive and dynamic developments to Lahad Datu, especially transforming the district into a hub for logistics, manufacturing, processing, transfer and consolidation of goods in the BIMP-EAGA region. POIC Lahad Datu is the only industrial park equipped with port facilities including a container terminal, dry bulk jetty, liquid bulk jetty and barge landing site.
Meanwhile, during his briefing, Yong too encouraged more entrepreneurs to come and invest in POIC Lahad Datu.
He also assured that POIC Lahad Datu would be engaging with the local business organizations after this, with the chief aim of forging partnership to better promote the industrial park.-pr/BNN
