KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah minister in-charge of high impact industrial projects says he was perplexed over a recent announcement on investments supposedly worth billions of ringgit that included an international industrial park.
Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Phoong Jin Zhe said that the group of investors who made the announcement were a mystery to him, saying his ministry was "in the dark" about these investments.
"As a minister in charge of industrial development, I was puzzled by several so-called billion ringgit projects that have been announced in the media without my ministry’s knowledge," he said in a statement here on Thursday (March 16).
"Furthermore, one of the announced 'projects' was to build an international industrial park.
"However, my ministry and I have not been informed with any details of the idea itself ... this is absurd and inappropriate," he added.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had earlier on Thursday issued a statement, referring to a meeting with a group of investors, saying no decision had been made on the projects proposed to the state government by the group.
It was reported that a group of investors had met with Hajiji and proposed to the state government to establish an international industrial park and a new port in Kimanis, located in southwest Sabah, of which the investments were said to be worth multi-billion ringgit.
Towards this end, Phoong said he fully supported an earlier stand made by Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun on groups making big business announcements and implying the government’s involvement in their initiatives.
He said Masidi was right, adding any intention on investments should at least be evaluated and filtered by the Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry at the state level first before going out for announcements.
"Under my ministry for high-impact investments involving billions of ringgit, we have a strong and capable task force chaired by the permanent secretary Datuk Thomas Logijin.
"They are tasked to look into the requirements and the needs of respective investments," he said.
At the same time, Phoong added, his ministry would assist investors to go through the necessary process.
"Just like how the South Korean company SK Nexilis and China company Kibing Solar have applied when they expressed their interests to invest in Sabah.
"The Sabah government welcomes any investors to invest in Sabah. We are committed to creating a business-friendly, efficient and effective environment for investments.
"However, all investments or announcements should go through the proper gateways and agencies," he said.
