The parties signing the MoUs with James Wong (fifth right) and You Ying (fifth left).
KOTA KINABALU: Two Sabah companies and two associations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four China companies from Jiangxi Province, Saturday, following the business forum between Jiangxi and Sabah businesses jointly organised by the State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry (MIDE) and Sabah Young Business and Industry Leaders (Sybil).
Sybil Chairman Ar James Wong said the business-to-business signings were to formalise some of the intentions between private sector companies to help Sabah businesses prosper together with Jiangxi businesses.
Met after the signing ceremony here, Wong said there are so many business opportunities with Jiangxi which has a population one-and-a-half times bigger than Malaysia and one of China’s food hubs and rice bowls.
Among the sectors that could be looked into is agriculture, which would augur well with Sabah’s intention to enhance its food security and ensure self-sufficiency level (SSL).
“These are the kind of partners, the kind of knowledge transfer, the kind of businesses and support that we need because they have all the know-how.
“China is one of the leading countries in the rice yield of the seedling. They are leaders. So, when you talk about investment potential, it is up to us what we can absorb.
It is up to us what we can actually facilitate and arrange. The investment is unlimited, if there is mutual opportunity.
“They are one of the biggest rice bowls. They create tonnes of food for the whole of China, they are known as the rice bowl of China,” he said.
Wong said Jiangxi is also well-known for its porcelain industry and tourism as it also has a Unesco site similar to Sabah.
“That is why we invited them to come to Sabah because they are very much aligned with our skillset and capability,” he said.
On the total investments expected from the MoUs, Wong said the specific terms and projects have yet to be identified and since it is not yet a Memorandum of Agreement there is no specific figure yet.
“These are just MoUs where both parties want to enter a collaboration opportunity with each other. Then after that, they (China side) will decide to follow up,” he said.
Asked to elaborate on how the MoU would benefit the State in terms of the agricultural sector and enhance Sabah’s SSL, Wong said the matter could be discussed with Jiangxi.
“We have land, we have rich natural resources, we have a beautiful environment, we have quality soil, come let us do exploration and study together to identify certain plots of land or areas where we can do joint business and joint agriculture together in a partnership and synergy.
“So, we in Sabah can provide natural resources, beautiful land and they can provide technology, machinery and experience.
“We have so many rich natural resources that are underutilised and highly unproductive. If we can find partners like this who are leaders in the world, in agriculture, we can unlock the potential of Sabah,” he said.
Wong said hopefully with the combination of Sabah’s private sector which includes the facilitation of Sybil, the State Government can walk together and research institutions like Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) can break down the silo of communication between each other.
This, he said, would enable both to work together to develop holistic and realistic opportunities and policies so that “we can really facilitate real businesses coming over and investors coming over to participate and develop our various natural resources.
“So, it is not just about signing the MoU and that’s it. No. there is a ton of works that need to be done on our own. We need to know what we want and when they come over they will be asking questions, about how to get lands, Sabahan partners, how tax works and what incentive do I have.
“So, when we say we want them to come over we also need to develop a very detailed playbook for them to follow. We have to identify our lands and say these are different resources that we want to target to develop…there are so many things to resolve,” he said.
Moving forward, Wong said Sabah needs to get its act together to establish and invest in a playbook or a key detail execution guideline for investors to come to Malaysia, otherwise nothing would happen with the MoU.
“This is not only Sybil’s responsibility. Everybody has to work together the State Government, private sector and research institutions,” he said.
Wong cited Silicon Valley in America, which consists of a collaboration of research institutions, the private sector and businesses, as well as the government and even the army to create technology.
“We need this kind of synergy and we got to really make things happen. No one party can make it work. This signing MoU event is the first step to say they want to work together, we want to work together but work must be done on both sides.
“Sybil can only do our part. We can only do our part but all parties need to be able to work together to really follow up to bring some of these opportunities to fulfil.
”Earlier, the MoUs were signed in the presence of the MIDE Deputy Permanent Secretary Myrna Jimenez and Head of JiangXi delegation You Ying, who is also the Director General of Department of Commerce of Jiangxi.
The MoUs were signed between Sybil and JXAIEC Jiangxi Enterprise Association of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation; Sabah Timber Industries Association and Jiangxi Province Furniture Association; Amazing Borneo Tours and Events Sdn Bhd and Jiangxi Tourism Technology Group; and Sibling Home and Kitchen Sdn Bhd and Jiangxi Free Kingdom Furniture Co. Ltd.
Source:- Daily Express
