KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce Sabah (MCCC Sabah) has pledged to back the State Government’s economic agenda, praising Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick’s delegation to China for their pragmatic approach in prioritising Sabah’s development and business community needs.
“We are willing to serve as a bridge and facilitator in making trade and cooperation platforms possible and in securing more tangible development opportunities for Sabah,” said MCCC Sabah President Datuk Dexter Lau in a statement.
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“Datuk Ewon and the officials in the delegation demonstrated a pragmatic and proactive approach while genuinely prioritising Sabah’s development and the needs of the business community,” he added.
The pledge came on the sidelines of a high-level business collaboration session jointly organised by MCCC Sabah and the Dalian Federation of Industry and Commerce in Dalian, held in conjunction with the Sabah delegation’s China visit.
Building on existing foundations of bilateral cooperation, the session aimed to deepen engagement in key industries and strategic development areas while fostering more focused trade and economic exchanges between Sabah and China.
The two chambers also formalised a sister chamber relationship at the session, further cementing long-standing friendly ties between both parties.
Dexter said the session was organised around the principle of precision matching to ensure strong alignment in business interests and cooperation objectives among participating parties.
Participation was deliberately kept to a small, senior-level format, represented by the chamber’s president, deputy president and vice presidents to maintain what he described as a small but focused, precise and efficient environment for deeper and more meaningful engagement.
“These high-level business collaboration sessions are not merely about discussing potential collaborations,” Dexter said.
“More importantly, they focus on how to turn collaborations into reality, including discussions involving resource integration, financial coordination, human capital, industry support and future market positioning.
“We wanted the discussions to remain focused so that representatives with genuine capability and cooperation potential could engage meaningfully,” he said.
MCCC Sabah was represented by Deputy President Kapitan Dr. Callee Tan Kai Lee, Vice Presidents Louis Su and Yong Siew Lee and Secretary Lam Lee Chin.
Dexter attended the Dalian session after completing a demanding separate corporate schedule across Nanjing, Wuhan and Guangzhou in his capacity as Executive Director of Main Market-listed Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Berhad, making a special trip to Dalian specifically to join the Sabah delegation.
He noted that despite their respective busy schedules, all participants had travelled specially from different regions to convene in Dalian for the session before continuing with their own business and official engagements in other cities the following day.
Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Berhad plans to invest a further RM200 million in Sabah over the next two years to strengthen the group’s operational footprint within the state.
“If we did not have confidence in Sabah, we could have chosen to expand elsewhere. It is precisely because we believe in Sabah’s long-term development potential that we continue to channel our investments, resources, and long-term growth plans here,” said Dexter.
Both chambers expressed interest in strengthening people-to-people ties through youth exchanges and sporting activities, including football, as platforms for fellowship and closer interaction between the two sides.
On the broader bilateral relationship, Dexter noted that Malaysia and China have long maintained stable and active economic relations underpinned by strong foundations and broad growth potential.
He said the China visit was not only important in sustaining existing partnerships, but also served as a key opportunity to elevate future cooperation to a higher level.
“By establishing closer and more direct engagement with Chinese business organisations and industry players, we can further expand cooperation opportunities, optimise resource allocation, and strengthen Sabah’s positioning within regional economic cooperation,” he said.
Dexter added that as the regional economic landscape continues to evolve, Sabah’s strengths in natural resources, strategic location and industrial development are increasingly attracting attention.
“Through such exchange platforms, Chinese companies can gain deeper insights into Sabah’s investment environment, while Sabah-based companies can explore new avenues for international cooperation and business transformation,” he said.
He said key industrial infrastructure such as POIC Lahad Datu as a strategic asset that can further strengthen regional trade and cross-border industrial cooperation, reinforcing Sabah’s role as a gateway to Asean and neighbouring markets.
“We have always approached cooperation with openness and pragmatism. In today’s economic environment, businesses are looking for opportunities that are sustainable and achievable.
“Therefore, our discussions go beyond cooperation itself, we also focus on how to make it happen, including policy support, market resources, funding coordination and talent development, so that collaborations can move towards long-term and project-based implementation,” he said.
