Logistics as Sabah’s Backbone: Turning Data and Local Products into Real Prosperity
By Datuk Ts Dr. Hj Ramli Amir, former President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Malaysia and Vice-President of CILT International for Southeast Asia
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s logistics sector is the missing link that can turn Masidi Manjun’s call for datadriven, highimpact policies into real gains in income, jobs and competitiveness for ordinary Sabahans.
Logistics as Sabah’s economic backbone
Masidi is right that better data and research must underpin Sabah’s next phase of development – but nowhere is this more urgent than in logistics. Today, freight costs in Sabah can be two to three times higher than in more connected regions because goods must move through fragmented, multileg routes instead of efficient hubandspoke networks. Every extra ringgit spent on moving a product is a ringgit taken away from farmers, SMEs and workers. If Sabah treats logistics as a “backbone industry”, smarter policies can cut these hidden costs and put money back into people’s pockets.
Putting data at the heart of logistics policy
Masidi’s meeting with IDS Sabah provides an ideal opportunity to integrate logistics into the state’s policy framework. IDS can be assigned to develop a state logistics observatory that monitors port volumes, road freight movements, delivery times, rural access, and even carbon emissions within a single comprehensive system. With this data, the state can ultimately prioritise projects based on their impact: determining which road, port access, or rural hub will most effectively reduce travel times, wastage, and costs for the greatest number of people.
Instead of approving projects in isolation, Sabah should adopt corridor-based planning centred on real supply chains – including palm oil, cocoa, seafood, halal food, downstream timber, industrial inputs, and tourism. This approach distinguishes between merely “building more infrastructure” and creating the right connections that promote growth across entire districts.
Ports, corridors and lastmile access
Sabah’s geography is not a drawback; it is an opportunity waiting for proper coordination. The expansion of Sapangar Bay Container Port and its partnership with DP World can establish Sabah as a true regional gateway for BIMP-EAGA and ASEAN, rather than just a feeder to Port Klang. However, ports alone are insufficient. What truly matters is whether a farmer in Keningau, an SME in Sandakan, or a seafood exporter in Lahad Datu can reach those ports quickly, reliably, and at predictable costs.
This is where a logistics-focused development strategy becomes essential. State and federal investments in Pan Borneo, rural roads, and industrial parks should be coordinated into explicit logistics corridors: SBCP–KKIP–interior agriculture, POIC Lahad Datu–oil palm and bioindustry, Sandakan–east coast manufacturing and fisheries. Along these corridors, the state can co-invest in rural consolidation hubs, cold rooms, and multimodal terminals so that even remote communities can connect to national and international markets.
Powering Sabah-made products to the world
When Masidi discusses upgrading local products—covering quality, branding, and marketability—logistics is the “invisible ingredient” that determines whether those products succeed outside Sabah. A well-branded seafood product means little if it cannot be kept cold, consolidated efficiently, and shipped on time to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, or Shanghai. Similarly, halal food, furniture, and natural wellness products require reliable warehousing, packaging, customs facilitation, and e-commerce fulfilment to be competitive.
Here, Sabah can transform its industrial parks into integrated logistics ecosystems. KKIP, POIC Lahad Datu, and other parks should not merely be land banks but comprehensive hubs where SMEs share warehouses, cold chains, testing laboratories, export documentation, and digital platforms. State incentives and federal support can be linked to investors who enhance these logistics functions – such as transshipment, consolidation, cold chain, and e-commerce fulfilment – rather than those who only extract raw materials.
Digital, green and people-centred logistics
A modern logistics strategy must also be intelligent, sustainable, and inclusive. Sabah can accelerate port community systems, e-booking, tracking, and data dashboards so that even small shippers have visibility over their cargo. Simultaneously, targeted pilots in route optimisation and cleaner vehicles along key corridors can establish the foundation for greener freight without overburdening small operators.
Most importantly, logistics is about people. Drivers, warehouse workers, planners, customs officers and digital talent form the human backbone of the system. By working with IDS, UMS, UiTM, TVET providers and industry, the state can establish a Sabah logistics skills pathway that lifts local youth into better-paid, future-ready jobs.
IDS Sabah as Masidi’s strategic partner
Masidi’s emphasis on “high-impact, systematic” plans and deeper collaboration with IDS Sabah is timely. IDS already acts as a bridge between research, planning, and implementation; logistics should now be placed at the centre of that mission. As secretariat and knowledge partner to the Sabah Logistics Council, IDS can help the state shift from fragmented projects to a unified, data-driven logistics and transport masterplan.
If Sabah gets logistics right, everything else becomes easier: investors find the state more attractive, SMEs reach new markets, rural producers get fairer prices, and households pay less for basic goods. That is how a technical subject like logistics becomes a powerful social policy tool – directly improving people’s livelihoods, just as Masidi has called for.
