Announcing this at the Championing Sabah’s Digital Economy seminar here today, Musa said he was open to giving more funding if the amount was not enough.
“I hope the people, especially our youths who are active in the digital economy and e-commerce applications, will grab this opportunity and fully use the funds provided to them,” he added.
Musa, who is also Sabah’s finance minister, said the state government was ready to adapt its policies, rules and regulations to the new way of conducting business.
For instance, he said, the state government was ready to review and provide as much space as possible to promote applications in business and commerce systems.
At the same time, the state government will ensure that policies in Sabah are conducive and e-commerce entrepreneurs can conduct their businesses easily.
“This proves the government is concerned not only about the needs of the people, but also the current needs of our industries.
“We don’t want you to be left behind. So, if the money is not enough, the ministry can always come and see me and I will give more but make sure the money is properly used.”
He said the state government had a special fund of RM105 million which he had set aside to be used by any ministry as long as it proposed good projects to justify the use of the funds.
Musa, who was a businessman before becoming a politician, said he applied the same business principles in managing the state’s finances.
“When I first started out, I learned from many of my Chinese businessmen friends who reminded me never to spend more than I earn and always keep something for a rainy day. And I have kept that advice to this day.
“This is why, right now, we are building up Sabah’s infrastructure such as the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), which, once operational, can accommodate up to 5,000 people and create 10,000 jobs,” he said.
He added that Sabah was becoming more popular and that people liked to invest here mainly because of its political stability.
On the tourism industry, Musa said during his travels to Beijing, China, the chairman of the China International Travel Services promised to bring a million Chinese tourists to Sabah this year, provided that the state has enough rooms and restaurants to cater for their needs.
For this reason, he said, the government was building and upgrading its infrastructure, including the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) project, which is a massive redevelopment of the popular Tanjung Aru beach area.
“The opposition objected to this but they don’t know why we must upgrade this beach. I have engaged the best consultant in the world for this project because we want to match Singapore and Dubai. Just imagine the spin-off businesses once the project is completed.
“Even Prime Minister Najib Razak is confident these projects will succeed, which is why he gave RM500 million for the TAED and an additional RM250 million for the SICC. Because TAED will be a game-changer. Sabah will be different, Kota Kinabalu will be different.
“There will be more businesses and more jobs. All I want to ask is to help us because together, we will prosper,” he told more than 1,000 participants who took part in the one-day seminar.
Musa also launched Borneokaki.com, an online portal to help local producers widen their market reach.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/12/16/musa-aman-stable-govt-vital-to-sabahs-peace-progress/