State industrial development minister Joachim Gunsalam said this was mainly due to a RM4.2 billion investment pledge by South Korean company SK Nexilis Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

SK Nexilis is reported to be the world’s leading company in the manufacture of copper foil for batteries.

“This is the biggest foreign investment received by Sabah thus far,” Gunsalam told the state assembly today.

He said latest statistics from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) showed that it had approved projects by 14 manufacturers in the state, totalling an investment of RM4.86 billion.

Gunsalam attributed the success in attracting foreign investment to the setting up of a special task force made up of 26 state and federal agencies.

“This task force managed to expedite the approval process to only seven months from when the talks started to the construction of the factories,” he said.

SK Nexilis started building its manufacturing facility on a 40ha site at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) earlier this year. It is expected to start operations in early 2024.

Gunsalam said 7,000 job opportunities were expected to be available during the construction phase and another 400 job openings once operations had commenced.

He said KKIP Sdn Bhd had also signed an agreement with a company this month involving an investment of up to RM2 billion.

“It is expected to create 1,800 jobs at its photovoltaic glass factory in KKIP and another 300 jobs at a silica processing plant in the northern Kudat district,” he said.