SIPITANG, April 24 — The state government through the initiatives of Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) is creating as many jobs as possible so that Sabahans will no longer have to look for work in other places including Peninsular Malaysia.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said nearly 200,000 Sabahans, exclusive of dependents, are currently working in Peninsular Malaysia.

"That is why the GRS-BN government is focused on creating an investor-friendly state to attract more investors to come. I want to bring in investors to Sabah so that we can create more job opportunities for our local youths,” he said in a statement here today.

Hajiji said 10 major companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to invest in the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP) with investments worth billions of ringgit and when materialised would directly benefit the people, especially youth, in the district from the job opportunities and economic spinoffs.

According to him, despite facing challenges during its early days, the state government managed to prepare the Hala Tuju SMJ, a five-year plan to develop Sabah, which was launched just six months after taking over the helm.

"Within just a year of leading the state government, we managed to attract investors to come and some have already signed an agreement to set up operations in Sabah,” he said.

Among the high-impact projects that have taken off were two in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and another in Paitan where a high-yield coconut plantation project is being carried out. — Bernama