‘Need to diversify various economic sectors’

TAWAU: There is a dire need to strengthen the “monotonous” economy of Tawau and diversify economic development of the various sectors, said Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce (TCCC) president Datuk Yap Yiw Sin.

Yap said Tawau district has great potential in tourism, aquaculture and seafood sectors. There is a need to further exploit these sectors, he said when officiating at the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of TCCC at the education hall of Sabah Chinese High School here yesterday afternoon.

The community here were also looking forward to have more tertiary institutions to cater for school leavers who need not have to go overseas for their education.

In fact, Tawau is part of the BIMP-EAGA and it would be a great district to attract more students from neighbouring countries if more tertiary institutions are available here.

Such initiative not only tends to speed up development of the education sector, but also boosts foreign exchange, he said.

In conjunction with the AGM, the chamber here submitted a memorandum to the government urging it to set up more universities or colleges in here in order to generate more skillful agricultural and seafood development professionals.    

“East Kalimantan (Kaltim) is implementing open land policy and development which have created great business opportunities to the businessmen and businesswomen in Tawau. Thus, I hope the local business groups here could grab this opportunity in expanding their business to the neighbouring country. It would be a good idea to promote and market our local goods to them in order to generate beneficial mutual trade.We also hope the government could implement the Economic Transformation Policy fairly which would benefit the people regardless of race and religion,” Yap said.

Touching on oil palm tax, the government should study again and consider to reduce the oil palm exportation tax for strengthening the oil palm export industry.

It is important to exploit more oil palm export markets and simplify the recruitment criteria of hiring foreign workers who will work in the plantations.

According to him, basic facilities such as roads, water and power supply in Tawau should be upgraded and maintained in good conditions to attract more foreign investors.    TCCC has 86 years of history since 1926 and has more than 500 members so far.

It is a bridge between the Chinese community and the government. The people could surf http://www.ccctawau.org for more information about TCCC.

At the AGM, the chamber also contributed RM7,000 assistance to Sabah Chinese High School, and RM5,250 each to Institute of Science and Management (ISM) and SJKC Kung Ming respectively for their educational purposes .

Besides that, the chamber also distributed excellent academic awards worth about RM5,235 to 87 members’ children yesterday.