KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded 10.67 million tourist arrivals with total spending reaching RM23.42 billion between 2021 and 2025.
Sabah caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said that the growth of the tourism sector has also generated more employment for the people.
He said over 360,000 job opportunities have been created since 2023 through the preservation and restoration of historical sites, the upgrading and construction of recreational facilities, and urban beautification projects that benefit the local community.
“The state’s vast tourism potential has spurred significant tourism-based developments by prominent companies, including Sheraton Hotel Kota Kinabalu, Club Med Borneo Kuala Penyu, InterContinental Hotel Papar, Hilton Garden Inn Resort Tuaran, Hyatt Centric Hotel Kota Kinabalu, and Citadines Waterfront Hotel Kota Kinabalu.
“Additionally, with an increase to 207 domestic and 126 international flights at KKIA each week, it proves Sabah remains a key destination, especially for tourists from Brunei, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam,” he said at the 2025 Sabah Civil Service Convention held at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC).
He added that the tourism sector was part of the state’s Hala Tuju SMJ 1.0 development plan, which covered multiple economic sectors, and has achieved remarkable progress and results that exceeded expectations.
In the agricultural sector, for instance, one notable achievement was a RM620 million investment in coconut cultivation and downstream industries by Linaco Resources Sdn Bhd.
“Sabah’s investment performance reflects investor confidence in the government, supported by the efficiency of the civil service.
“From 2021 until the second quarter of this year, the manufacturing sector recorded RM24.9 billion in investments from 87 foreign and domestic investors,” he said.
He said major high-value investments included RM4.29 billion from SK Nexilis, RM3.43 billion from SBH Kibing Solar, as well as Esteel Enterprise Sabah Sdn Bhd, which has a three-phase investment totalling RM6.59 billion.
PETRONAS has also begun operations at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP), showing that investments in the state are not limited to domestic sources but also come from international investors, he said.
He added that these investments have benefited the people of Sabah as a whole, creating more than 38,000 job opportunities for locals.
One of the government’s most significant achievements in the oil and gas sector was the signing of the Commercial Collaboration Agreement (CCA) between the Sabah State Government and PETRONAS on 7 December 2021, marking a new era of Sabah’s participation in the industry, he said.
As a result, Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC) has been appointed as the main gas supplier and transporter, now possessing domestic gas capacity exceeding 250 million cubic feet per day, with the industry’s total revenue expected to surpass RM2.5 billion annually — making it one of the state’s primary revenue contributors.
SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned Sabah government company, which initially started with limited capital, has grown its value to RM5 billion within three years, with total assets of RM4.9 billion and a profit of RM307 million, he said.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
