Sabah wants to know more about preservation, conservation
Dr Joachim (sixth from right, middle row) with the Sabah delegation at the Malaysia pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, includes 40 trade commissioners.
DUBAI (December 26): Sabah wants to learn from countries advanced in the preservation and conservation of the environment, said Deputy Chief State Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
“In Malaysia, especially in Sabah, we are always discussing how to develop our population and our basic infrastructure.
“But they’re now talking about preservation and conservation, so that’s what we (in Sabah) are trying to emulate and find in the future,†Dr Joachim said, referring to Japan highlighting his theme of moving forward towards a better future at World Dubai Expo 2020 here.
“Japan is now talking more about restoring the world,†said Dr Joachim, who is also the state’s Minister of Infrastructure Development.
Japan, which showcased its cutting edge technologies, will be the next host in 2025 in Osaka.
The minister was met at the end of the Sabah week from December 20 to 24 at the Malaysian pavilion to summarize his visit.
The state delegation to the exhibition includes 40 trade commissioners from 14 companies involved in tourism, small and medium enterprises and product manufacturers.
“We hope to get sales and investment by participating in the exhibition,” he said as Sabah hopes to achieve RM24 million in sales for its local products and RM25 million in investment as well as RM50,000. tourists.
Besides Japan, Dr Joachim and his officials, including his deputy minister Mohd Tamin Zainal, the permanent secretary of his ministry Thomas Logijin have also chosen to visit the pavilions of Germany, India, South Korea and from Hungary to learn from their advancements in technology and conservation.
“Actually, we want to visit more pavilions such as Saudi Arabia, United States, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and many more,†he said.
“We chose to visit these countries because they are very advanced in terms of development and we want to see how they get there,” he said.
For example, he cited India has come a long way after it started thousands of years ago. They have advanced so much and produced many scientists in information and communication technologies.
Likewise, he said China has grown rapidly over the past 20 years and now on par with the United States in terms of the economy.
“That’s why we have to meet them and visit their pavilions to see what they are doing,†he said.
Earlier, Dr Joachim and his officials also visited the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) office at the Malaysian Consulate General here.
“We take this opportunity to visit Matrade’s office to learn how to do business, especially from Dubai to invest in Sabah,†he said.
“We have discovered some problems for our products to be exported to the Middle East market where they have to put Arabic words on the packaging, so that they can be easily read,” explained Dr Joachim.
“Of course (the Middle East) can read English, but if they (entrepreneurs) do it in Arabic, it will be easier to market,” says our ambassador, “he added.
He said Sabah also needed Matrade’s help in getting distributors in Dubai to market his products.
Matrade Consul for Trade Omar Mohd Salleh in his briefing encouraged Sabah entrepreneurs to explore the niche coffee market in the Gulf countries.
“Arabs like to drink specialty coffee and it can be distributed for example in Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as they seek the source in Dubai.
“We have also encouraged Malaysian companies to test the market using online first, as this is the easiest market penetration to see how the product has responded,†he said.
E-commerce is flourishing as the UAE is currently the most advanced e-commerce market in the Middle East with an estimated annual growth of 23% between 2018 and 2022, he said.