Sapangar Port Expansion Set To Balance Sabah's Economic Development - State Deputy Chief Minister

KOTA KINABALU (Sabah, Malaysia), Feb 15 (Bernama) -- The Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) expansion in the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) marks a significant recognition to Sabah port infrastructure needs to balance the state's economic development, Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan said. He said the Sapangar Port has also been identified as a game changer under the National Blue Ocean Strategy to stimulate and drive economic growth within Greater Kota Kinabalu. "Cities, such as Greater Kota Kinabalu, have always played an important role in a nation's growth by providing investment and trade opportunities. "Seamless connectivity between the hinterland and global market will invariably accelerate the state's industrial and economic development," he told reporters following a working visit to the Sapangar Port here Monday. Pairin, who is also state infrastructure development minister, said SBCP would eventually serve as a gateway not just for Sabah, but also the ASEAN Economic Community and Trans-Pacific Partnership markets. On SBCP expansion under the Sabah Development Corridor initiative, he said it would be developed into a transhipment hub under the 11MP. "A masterplan to upgrade and expand SBCP infrastructure to allow main line operators shall be prepared this year. "The transhipment hub strategy will boost the state's connectivity to the international markets, (thus) generating higher volume of cargo to attract more shipping lines to call at the port. "This will be the long-term catalyst to the industrial activities in the state," he said. Pairin said the positioning of SBCP as a transhipment hub augured well with the port's strategic location along the main shipping route of the East Asian sea trade and at the centre of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). "The transhipment strategy, along with other improvement initiatives by the port would significantly address the issue of trade imbalance that may result in reducing the cost of ocean freight. "This will eventually lead to not only lowering the cost of doing business and the cost living in Sabah, but also enhance the state's economic competitiveness in the long-run," he said. -- BERNAMA