KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is looking forward to beat Selangor in bringing investment to the country, Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah said.
He said at his ministry’s Chinese New Year dinner on Saturday tha Sabah’s consistent investment is an indication that the state is a potential and main destination for investors to put their money, to make money in the future.
“In 2012, Sabah ranked third in projects approved by the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (Mida), with a total domestic and foreign capital investment value of RM5,034 million, just behind Johor RM5,535 million and Selangor RM11,734 million. However, we beat Penang (RM2,471.5 million).
“In 2013, Sabah is at RM3,001.80 million while Penang is at RM2,652.40 million. We beat Penang for the past two years and I am looking forward to beat Selangor, since leaders from Penang and Selangor keeping telling the people that Sabah is a poor state,” he said.
Tan who was the host for the event held at Le Meridien Hotel, also stressed that with the investment potential in Sabah, the federal government should be looking ahead and putting more money in Sabah to maximize the potential.
Quoting a recent report on national newspapers that Malaysia had been ranked one of the cheapest places in the world to purchase a Big Mac, Tan, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said it was a very simple reason why investors should be paying more attention to investing in Malaysia.
“It was said that the Big Mac sold in Malaysia is half the price of the same burger sold in the US. If we go to San Francisco and order a Big Mac, the taste and size will be the same like what we have here in Kota Kinabalu. But the price is the cheapest here.
“We cannot simply change the recipe and ingredients because Big Mac has its own standard. We cannot change the salad inside into kangkung because Big Mac wants the same quality like what they have worldwide. This simply says investors are having huge opportunity to make money in Malaysia.
“However, since I am the minister in-charge of bringing investors to the state, I can assure that our investors can make money if we work together. At the same time, let me make money for the state as well,” he added.