KOTA KINABALU: A company from China is interested to develop a large-scale tourism project in Sipadan area.
The RM2.5 billion project will comprise a tourism-based resort, commercial and high-end residential areas with a focus on marine activities.
It will be developed into five zones, listed as residential area, commercial development, high-end resort, diving school and administrative centre. The project is expected to receive one million tourists annually; provide 4,000 employment opportunities; house a population of 12,000 people; and have a construction scale of 700,000 square metres.
This was disclosed at a meeting yesterday between the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) and a delegation from China’s Diving Best, headed by Chief Executive Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari, at Wisma SEDIA.
The delegation from China presented a proposal for the tourism project at the meeting which was also attended by officers from the Tawau Municipal Council, Sabah Tourism Board and Immigration Department.
Having first met with SEDIA in June 2013, the group from China now expressed strong interest in developing the project.
The meeting served as a means for SEDIA to answer key enquiries from the foreign investors, including fiscal incentives; immigration policies; real estate and land policies; available resources; advantages of investment in Sabah; and project construction management policies.
Diving Best is best known for running the Sanya Diving Training Centre in Sanya City of China’s Hainan Province and has been certified by the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS), Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and International Scuba diving school (SSI), with qualified professional divers engaged in diving tourism and leisure sport.
The company is also known for working with various international hotelier brands such as the Ritz Carlton, Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, and also China’s Horizon Resort and Spa group in opening several sea tourism-based hotels and resorts in China.
Sabah is well-known in China as an eco- and marine-based tourism destination, thereby piquing the group’s interest in entering Sabah’s tourism industry.
