Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji discussing with State Secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong before the Sedia meeting in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday (Nov 23).
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is showing positive economic growth with its unemployment rate showing a decline in 2022, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said the unemployment rate in Sabah has gone down to 7.5% last year (2022) compared to 8.2% in 2021.
He said that the figures showed that 1,875,800 people in the state will have jobs in 2022 compared to 1,856,500 in 2021, and added that the data from the Statistics Department indicated Sabah is undergoing positive growth.
Apart from that, efforts taken by the government after the Covid-19 pandemic have begun to show encouraging results, he said when chairing the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) board of directors meeting at Menara Kinabalu, Thursday (Nov 25).
The Sedia chairman then said the agency must focus on improving its management and administration to ensure that the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) was implemented with integrity and transparency.
"This is in line with efforts to eradicate poverty, enhance the efficiency of transportation and logistics infrastructure, develop future talents and to ensure marketability of graduates of higher learning institutions and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)," he said.
Sedia’s Initiatives such as the Skills and Talents Enhancement Programme have been carried out under the Human Capital Transformation effort to enhance individual skills through upskilling and re-skilling programmes, improving access to education and training through outreach programmes and creating better cooperation between the industry and learning institutions, he said.
As a result of this effort, Hajiji said Sedia has created job opportunities for 1,600 participants and 300 entrepreneurs.
Based on the statistics, Sabah's workforce participation rate had increased to 70.9% in 2022 compared to 70.4% in the previous year.
“Sedia is still relevant as the core mover of regional economic development. I want Sedia to make a big shift in the planning and implementation of its projects to boost Sabah's development," he said.
"By 2024, Sedia should focus on investments in logistics, agriculture and tourism and point its sights on new economic activities encompassing renewable energy, technology usage in agriculture, livestock and fisheries, among others," added Hajiji.
Hajiji also thanked the federal government for entrusting Sedia with the implementation of several initiatives and projects in Sabah, among them the solar system installation project for government buildings, Sepanggar Bay Container Port expansion project and the upgrading of the access road to the proposed site of the Serudong Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) in Kalabakan.
