SDC offers winning formula for business
It is an exciting time for business in Sabah. The United States-based restaurant giant Darden has started a US$1.6-billion pilot project to grow lobsters in the Malaysian state. As this unfolds, ready-built factories in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) have been sold out, prompting the government to develop more with the private sector. Real estate prices have also been upbeat. With inquiries from investors worldwide, especially from Hong Kong, property quotes in Kota Kinabalu have remained robust. Land values along the Sembulan River, for example, continue to strengthen.
It is an exciting time for business in Sabah. The United States-based restaurant giant Darden has started a US$1.6-billion pilot project to grow lobsters in the Malaysian state. As this unfolds, ready-built factories in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) have been sold out, prompting the government to develop more with the private sector. Real estate prices have also been upbeat. With inquiries from investors worldwide, especially from Hong Kong, property quotes in Kota Kinabalu have remained robust. Land values along the Sembulan River, for example, continue to strengthen.
Investors find it difficult to pass on a generous fiscal incentive package. For selected industries, the government offers full income tax exemption for 10 years or an investment tax allowance of 100 per cent on qualified capital expenditures for five years. The investment tax allowance can be offset against 100 per cent of statutory income. To top the offer, businesses may also apply for exemption from import duties, sales tax, stamp duties on land acquired for development and other costs.
Investors flock to Sabah not just for the fiscal incentives. They would like to partake in the ingenious master planning of the Malaysian state. The government created the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) in 2008 to transform Sabah into a prime business and leisure destination by 2025. Launched the following year to completely manage SDC, the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) has come up with a winning formula that leverages Sabah's natural endowments.
"We have co-located specific activities into economic clusters and have put in place strong infrastructure and fiscal incentives to ensure the growth of such businesses," says Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari, president and CEO of SEDIA.
With this approach, SEDIA promotes many projects focusing on tourism, oil and gas, palm oil, agriculture, education, manufacturing and logistics.
"Our programmes are bound to bring in new markets and help complete supply chain linkages," Johari says. "We want companies that can bring in new technologies and help us capture higher value-added sectors and increase efficiencies."
