At the 13th meeting of the Sabah Business Council (SBC) held on 12th June 2001, the Chief Minister Datuk Chong Kah Kiat announced eight measures to shield Sabah against the impact of the US economic slowdown. The measures are as follows:
Promote aggressively the tourism sector targeting at both international as well as domestic visitors, particularly in urging the Federal Government and Malaysia Airlines to provide more direct flights to Sabah for regional and international arrivals such as from Singapore, South Korea, Japan and new routes from Australia as well as to tap international arrivals into KLIA to Sabah.
Intensify the development of the construction sector, especially the construction of low-cost housing and infrastructure facilities which have been earmarked for implementation during the Eighth Malaysia Plan;
Revitalise the development of the agricultural sector by focusing on the food sub-sector and the specialty natural products industry cluster such as herbal remedies, cosmetics, dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals. Sabah has the potential for the development of the food sub-sector such as livestock industries, aquaculture and fisheries, large-scale padi farming as well as cultivation of temperate vegetables, fruits and herbs, and the specialty natural products industry. The latter has tremendous potential and needs to be aggressively promoted and developed. These initiatives will provide a new growth impetus for Sabah. Sabah is well-positioned for these initiatives, given its natural endowment such as rich bio-diversity, large tracts of fertile land, abundant riverine and marine resources and suitable climatic condition.
Intensify the development of existing manufacturing industries of which Sabah already has a comparative advantage, e.g. oil-palm, rubber, cocoa, wood-based and other resource-based industries;
Create a network of IT literate, adaptable and highly skilled human resources whilst pursuing technological advancement. This could be done by identifying R&D requirements for Sabah and optimising the utilisation of existing ICT and R&D capability available nation-wide, such as universities, MARDI, FRIM, government research stations etc.
Diversify export markets and investment sources to include economies less affected by the US (e.g., China, India, the Middle East and Europe);
Seek trading partners to obtain optimum trade balance. For example, lumpy items such as machinery and transport equipment should be sought from suitable import partners to induce a favourable balance of trade through arrangements such as counter-trade or barter trade with exports of oil palm, wood-based or cocoa products from the state; and
Enhance administrative efficiencies and reduce wastage, especially duplication of functions. Reduce unnecessary red-tape to ensure speedy approval of priority projects.