New Straits Times

Sabah entrepreneurs should go beyond domestic market, promote local products

7 days ago

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah government aims to boost state economic growth by going beyond the domestic market, said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam. "It is in these international markets that you could aggressively grow your own business and that positive growth will quantum leap Sabah's economy. "Therefore, I call on Sabah Entrepreneurs Creation (SEC) to do more. Transform these entrepreneurs to become export-oriented entrepreneurs," he said in a statement after officiating the 2022 edition of SEC Grand Final Pitching Competition here last night. Joachim, who is also state Industrial Development Minister, added that Sabah's total trade had increased by 9.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to a record high of RM87.2 billion. Based on the Sabah External Trade Statistics Report for 2021, he said the statistic spoke volumes about Sabah's trade investment. He added that marketing local products would be one of the sustainable ways of exporting goods apart from ensuring food security. "There are many local materials that can be processed into food products such as bananas, tapiocas and sweet potatoes which all of these can be processed and produced in the market locally.