KOTA KINABALU, April 21 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has set his sights on Jiangxi Province in China to propel industrialisation in Sabah.
Moments upon arriving in Nanchang City on Saturday, Mohd Shafie paid a courtesy call on the Governor of Jiangxi, Yi Lianhong, at the Qianhu State Guest House, where both leaders signed a Letter of Intent to establish a sister province relationship.
Sabah and Jiangxi intend to explore trade, investment, agriculture and tourism to generate mutual benefits and promote common prosperity and development.
Mohd Shafie said he had chosen to come to Jiangxi due to its proximity to Sabah and its rapid economic growth which saw the province’s Gross Domestic Product climb 8.7 per cent to RMB 2.19 trillion (RM1.35 trillion) in 2018 compared to the previous year.
“Sabah already enjoys the highest number of Chinese tourist arrivals in Malaysia but as the highest oil producing state and second largest in natural gas production, it has plenty to offer to Chinese investors too,” he said in a statement today.
In response, Yi said he was pleased to welcome his guests and proposed that the relationship extend beyond trade and economics to culture and education too.
Meanwhile, the Ma-Zhong Friendship Association of Sabah signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jiangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to promote friendly exchanges between local governments and the people of Sabah and Jiangxi.
Jiangxi, located in the southeast of China, has an area of 166,900 square kilometres with a population of 46 million, and is largely known as a land of fish and rice.
Its strategic location enables it to connect the east with the west and link the north with the south.
Railways surpass 4,000 kilometres and expressways in the province total up to 6,000 kilometres. There are also seven airports in Jiangxi connecting it to places across the world.
Endowed with an abundance of mineral resources of 170 different types, its copper reserves rank first in China. It has the largest copper mine in Asia and the biggest copper smelting centre in China.
The chief minister also visited the headquarters of the Jiangxi Copper Corporation, which is on the Fortune 500 list. — Bernama
