Phoong Jin Zhe
KOTA KINABALU: Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said Sabah’s manufacturing sector grew by 4.4% in 2023, surpassing the national average growth of 0.8%, making it the highest
manufacturing growth in the country for 2023.
He said this was based on the latest 2023 Malaysia Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State Report published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
Phoong described this result as an indication of the initial achievements in Sabah’s industrial development.
“According to the report, although Sabah’s overall GDP grew by only 1.3% in 2023 compared to 2022, the significant growth in the manufacturing sector is noteworthy,” he said.
Phoong attributed this success to the Government’s recent efforts to attract investment and promote industrial
development.
However, he acknowledged that this is just the beginning, and Sabah’s industrial development still faces various challenges and difficulties.
He highlighted that Sabah’s manufacturing sector only accounts for 7.3% of the state’s GDP, which is much lower than other industrial states like Penang (46.5%), Kedah (29.2%), Johor (29.8%), and even Sarawak (26.5%).
Phoong stressed that Sabah has to double its efforts to advance industrial development and boost Sabah’s economy.
The industrial contribution to Sabah’s economy has never exceeded 10% in the past decades, resulting in Sabah being
relatively underdeveloped and poor.
Phoong believes that with the recent successful significant foreign investments to Sabah, especially the SK Nexilis copper foil manufacturing plant investment of RM4.2 billion and the Kibing Group’s RM3 billion solar glass manufacturing project from China, which commenced production this year and started exporting the manufacturing sector is expected to grow further.
Additionally, he disclosed that the report showed Sabah’s service sector GDP reached a new high, the highest in the past decade, with a total value of RM42.3 billion, accounting for half of Sabah’s GDP.
On the other hand, Phoong said that although Sabah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant 2015 prices has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, the state’s GDP per capita has recently surpassed the 30,000 ringgit mark, indicating a positive sign of economic recovery.
“Sabah’s GDP at current prices has actually increased compared to pre-COVID time,” he said.
He expressed regret that some assemblymen in the State Legislative Assembly sensationalised the decrease in Sabah’s GDP per capita from 2022 to 2023 without presenting data from the past decade to reflect the objective facts.
Indeed, he said the per capita GDP in 2023 was 31,147, lower than the 35,860 recorded in 2022. However, compared to the pre-pandemic figures of 25,368 in 2019 and 25,832 in 2018, there is a significant increase. And this even performed better than many states.
“Given this, it significantly shows that despite facing various challenges and issues, Sabah’s economy is recovering.
“This is evidenced by the best industrial growth performance in 2023, the best service sector performance in a decade, and the per capita GDP exceeding the 30,000 mark for two consecutive years.”
He said that with the growth of Sabah’s industrial and service sectors, trade will become more active.
He also reiterated that the congestion issue at Sepanggar Port must be addressed and resolved immediately to avoid inflation, which would negatively hurt Sabah’s economic growth.
He also said he would continue to voice the concerns of the industrial and business sectors to the State Cabinet, urging the port management to address the congestion issues.
