The Sabah State Government is all geared up to bring in a new era of better employability and enhanced business ecosystem with a strong focus on developing human capital as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the state. The top authorities are fostering entrepreneurs to utilize all new opportunities that will be provided by the new State Government regardless of the size of their businesses.

In fact, the small and medium-sized industries (SMIs) in Sabah are expected to provide 600,000 job opportunities by 2023.

According to the Chief Minister of Sabah - Datuk Seri Mohd. Shafie Apdal, the SME sector so far had been able to offer about 450,000 job opportunities till the year 2015. And such a momentum in growth can have a manifold effect on the economy of the State. 

In the month of July, during the launch of the Sabah Small Industry Festival (FIKS) in Tamparuli, Adpal stated: “As the country heads into 2023, the SME sector under the leadership of the Ministry of Trade and Industry hopes to provide 600,000 job opportunities.” With the onset of One District One Small Industry (OD1SI) programme, local income and job opportunities will help the economy to grow further and then the OD1SI can be implemented and expanded to every district across Sabah. The OD1SI program was envisaged to help improve the economic level of the locals. It aimed to develop micro-industries that thrive on natural resources available in their respective areas.

The OD1SI Unit set up under the Ministry's Research and Industry Development Department is all set to create jobs and improve the state’s SME sector by adopting these three-pronged approaches:

1. The first of three steps towards the OD1SI initiative is the launch of Festival Industry Kecil Sabah (FIKS). This is a platform that showcases different businesses, networking channels, and then matching these businesses and sharing related information for the SME owners in every district.
2. The second approach begins with the implementation of the District Flagship Product. Under this, the product clusters of every district will be developed in line with the resources available in their area i.e. the district’s own available resources.
3. The third approach talks about the formation of a coordinating committee that will be headed by Tangau, who is the State Minister of Trade and Industry.
4. The Small Industries are the heart and pulse of the economy as its macro contributes to approximately 36.3 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product. While the SMIs provides approximately 65 percent of the overall job employment in Malaysia, it also encompasses about 99 percent of the businesses in Sabah. With a fresh momentum in growing this segment, The Chief Minister said that "I do not want anyone to be left out and I want to make sure every Sabahan will enjoy the benefits of development under the new Sabah Government administration." 

It’s time to wait and watch how the Sabahans from all walks of life would be able to benefit from the administration of this new government!