Frankie Liew
KOTA KINABALU (June 26): The Sabah China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) is fully supportive of the Sabah Government’s investor-friendly policies which have attracted unprecedented investments into Sabah, especially in oil and gas.
SCCC has been proactively promoting investments into Sabah from China in collaboration with the Sabah Government.
Its president, Datuk Frankie Liew and some members have accompanied Sabah Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe in his recent investment promotion trip to China which has generated substantial interest from Chinese investors.
SCCC has been aware of the problems of government-linked companies (GLC) that have accumulated over many years.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Noor and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun have also made statements that the majority of the GLCs have not performed, many are making losses and have accumulated substantial debts. Some are dependent on the Sabah Government for financial survival.
Only a handful of them are profitable and are paying dividends to the Sabah Government.
Therefore, SCCC is fully supportive of the initiatives of Hajiji and Masidi to revamp the non-performing GLCs.
“Not transforming the non-performing GLCs is not an option. The Sabah Government should turn around these non-performing GLCs as soon as possible. Otherwise, the financial cost incurred by these GLCs will increase exponentially in the near future,” SCCC said in a statement today.
It compliments the Sabah Government for having appointed a number of professionals, corporate leaders as advisors and capable officials to helm some GLCs as part of its transformation of key GLCs. This action of the Sabah Government augurs well for the future of Sabah.
In this connection, SCCC supports the appointment of Datuk Seri Panglima Lim Haw Kuang, who is the Executive Chairman of the Sabah Development Bank, as the adviser of SMJ Energy.
Lim who is a Tawau-born Sabahan, was the Executive Chairman of Shell Companies in China, a director of Bank Negara, Sime Darby Bhd and other public listed companies. He has impeccable credentials in the corporate world, especially in the oil and gas industry.
Lim is eminently qualified to advise the Sabah Government on SMJ Energy. He has readily accepted the request to assist the Sabah Government in its negotiation with Petronas on oil and gas since 2022.
Sabah has now succeeded in gaining a number of concessions from Petronas, as a result of which, the state is building up a sizeable oil and gas industry. At the same time, the oil and gas revenue has increased very substantially.
Seeking Sukuk to finance the takeover of SIP by SMJ Energy is the right way as it will reduce the financial cost of borrowing substantially. Equally important, SMJ Energy’s Sukuk initiative will enable SDB to clear SIP’s long overdue debt and allows it to be recapitalised.
SCCC hopes that the Sabah Government will also revamp the other non-performing GLCs as soon as possible as they can be transformed into vibrant economic engines to power Sabah’s economic growth.
The chamber stands ready to assist the Sabah Government in this endeavour.