KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): The government is ready to assess appropriate forms of cooperation should the Sabah state government wish to spearhead the state’s economic transformation through the establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the Economy Ministry said.
The ministry said the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2035 (BEV2035) document, which was agreed upon during the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Special Summit held in the Philippines in May, has incorporated the whole of Sabah into two economic corridors.
“This means that Sabah’s economic development is related to and contributes to the cross-border economic development within the BIMP-EAGA sub-regional area,” it said in a written reply posted on Parliament’s website on Monday (June 22).
The two economic corridors are the West Economic Corridor, which focuses on logistics and transportation, manufacturing and industry, tourism, and digital and financial services, and the Central Economic Corridor, which focuses on cross-border trade, the halal industry, logistics, and supply chains.
The Economy Ministry said to accelerate development in the economic corridor, BEV2035 has outlined the establishment of a working group to facilitate cooperation among different economic zones across borders.
“In this regard, proactive and targeted policy coordination will ensure that Sabah not only remains a geographical participant in BIMP-EAGA, but also emerges as a key economic hub and growth centre in Southeast Asia,” it added.
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