A huge decline in economic performance from one year to another is alarming for any state. On the other hand, it is also an opportunity for the opposition to discredit the government.
This is the scenario playing out in Sabah.
Initial data unveiled in June by the department of statistics Malaysia (DoSM) showed that for Sabah, total exports amounted to RM32.067 billion in 2024, down from RM91.33 billion in the previous year. That was a 65% drop.
The figures for imports were even worse — RM10.903 billion in 2024, an 84% plunge from RM68.132 billion recorded in 2023.
Put together the state’s total trade plummeted from RM159.46 billion in 2023 to RM42.97 billion — a drop of more than 70%.
Opposition parties Warisan and Umno just could not help but see this as an opportunity to disparage the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government led by chief minister Hajiji Noor.
Warisan vice-president Junz Wong described the decline in imports as “a worrying drop in investor confidence and economic activity”.
Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir went a step further, claiming that the RM57.23 billion drop in imports and the RM59.26 billion fall in exports made Sabah the only state with sharp declines in trade. He described it as “economic stagnation”.
“The sharp drop in imports shows investors are losing confidence in Sabah’s administration,” he added.
But, as it turned out, the numbers were not as they seemed. Updated statistics issued by the DoSM just weeks later showed a completely different picture.
Officials eventually traced the spike in exports in 2023 to a “single extraordinary transaction”. In other words, without this “extraordinary transaction”, the export figure would have been more or less similar with other years. It is an anomaly.
The updated figures from the DoSM show that Sabah recorded exports of RM31.08 billion in 2023 if the one-off transaction of “extraordinary” item was not taken into account. The new data also shows that exports amounted to RM32.07 billion a year later, accounting for a 3.2% uptick.
This is consistent with the data from previous years.
Even in 2022, when crude oil and palm oil prices — both major commodities exported from Sabah — were exceptionally high, the state’s export amounted to only RM61.5 billion, nowhere near the RM91.33 billion initially reported by DoSM and seized upon by Wong and Suhaimi to further their own political ambitions.
That year, crude oil prices rose to as high as US$120 a barrel while palm oil prices ranged from RM5,000 to RM7,000 per tonne.
The value of exports dropped to RM32.07 billion in 2023 only because of the decline in the prices of crude oil to just over US$70 per barrel and a 20% drop in palm oil prices that year.
While we cannot escape the impact of any change in the global economy, such as the movement of commodity prices, it is clear that the Sabah economy has been on an even keel.
This makes it attractive for investors — both foreign and domestic as reflected in the consistent increase in investments.
For instance, the manufacturing sector saw new approved investments of RM2.47 billion in 2024, up 63% from the previous year.
It is important to note that foreign direct investments (FDI) surged 98% to RM962.3 million in 2024 from just RM16.6 million in 2023, thanks largely to the RM950 million expansion of the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park by Kibing Group, a Chinese glass maker.
This year promises to be even better. In just the first quarter, Sabah has already attracted RM10.9 billion in new investments, more than four times it received throughout 2024.
As Sabah industrial development minister Phoong Jin Zhe said, in the face of global uncertainties, Sabah has become a competitive and trusted investment hub.
The state government has stressed that the 2023 figures were an outlier. The move by the opposition to reformulate the conversation for political gain is to the state’s detriment.
Junz Wong (left) and Suhaimi Nasir.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.