KOTA KINABALU: The fact that Sabah’s financial management was never questioned by the Auditor General for 14 years in a row makes Sabah the best financially managed state in Malaysia, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah.
The growing number of state ministries, departments, statutory bodies and agencies getting four-star rating in the National Audit Department’s Financial Management Accountability Index is further proof, he said, adding these achievements attesting to the state government’s integrity and good governance have increased investor confidence in the state.
“The memorandum of understanding signed with Grupa Azoty of Poland and witnessed by the Chief Minister (Datuk Seri Musa Aman) in Poland recently shows that foreign investors are keen to come to Sabah,” he said when rounding up the debate on the state’s 2015 Budget for his ministry at the State Legislative Assembly here yesterday.
Tan, who is also state Industrial Development Minister, said the Polish group will invest RM1 billion to build an ammonia derivatives factory with an annual production capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes.
RAM Rating Services Bhd has also given the state an ‘AAA’ rating six years in a row, he said, adding his ministry is making feasibility evaluations on several oil and gas project proposals.
In another development, he said three mills in the state produce 10,000 metric tonnes of cooking oil a month.
“Cooking oil and gas are subsidised items, so the issue of getting them for free does not arise,” he said. — Bernama