Hajiji chairing the MTPNg meeting.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s economy has registered encouraging growth with its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing from RM82.1 billion in 2022 to RM83.2 billion in 2023, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Hajiji Haji Noor.
“This shows a momentum of continuous improvement and positive development in Sabah,” he said, adding this was in line with the national GDP, which is expected to increase by 2.5 per cent through the Madani Economy Framework that saw the restructuring of Malaysia’s economy under the National 2025 Budget.
Chairing the State Development Action Council (MTNg) meeting at Menara Kinabalu here today, the Chief Minister said the achievement was due to cooperation from various quarters in the state.
“If we continue to contribute our energy positively through close cooperation, it is not impossible to successfully implement our Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya aspirations,” he said.
He urged relevant agencies to ensure all initiatives and programmes under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) and Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya development blueprint are implemented to spur economic growth and to uplift the people’s livelihood.
Under the 13MP, the Chief Minister said the State Government has formulated a State Strategic Development Hala Tuju as a proactive step to spur Sabah’s economy and development from 2026 to 2030.
“It is also an early framework that takes into consideration the policy, blueprint and current development plan. Various initiatives will be initiated encompassing the Blue Economy initiative and each state development agenda under the 13MP,” he said.
Despite the various successes through the Hala Tuju SMJ initiatives and positive figures from all the released data to date, Hajiji said the State Government must not rest on its laurel and become complacent.
“We must continue to work hard and be more proactive. All state leadership, heads of department and heads at district-level must go down to the ground more frequently to monitor ongoing programme or project implementation.
“This is important to ensure all programmes are done well and thoroughly ,” he said, adding that this year 1,265 projects and programmes must be completed in Sabah.
All the implementing agencies must constantly monitor these projects’ progress and ensure they are completed according to schedule,” he said.
According to him, Sabah is among the highest recipients of the national budget, with RM6.7 billion allocated by the Federal Government this year.
“This proves that the voices of the people and leaders of Sabah are heard at the Federal level. It also demonstrates that we are very serious and will strive to boost the state’s development,” he said.
“We must do a paradigm shift to ensure the success of all our plans. We should do away with outdated processes and we must change attitudes that focus on the negatives without evaluating or crediting the successes or contributions made to the state,” he said.
