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: In Sabah, logistics problems are often attributed to geography. We are far from major markets, spread across difficult terrain, and separated by sea.
These factors are real, but they are no longer the main constraint. What increasingly holds Sabah back is not distance but the poor coordination of our logistics system.
Ports are operating, roads are being built, and trade volumes continue to grow. Sapangar Bay handles more containers each year.
Tawau and Sandakan remain critical gateways for regional trade, and feeder routes connect Sabah to Peninsular Malaysia and neighbouring economies. Yet for many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, logistics remains unpredictable, costly, and inefficient.
The issue today is not whether goods can move — but whether they can do so reliably, affordably, and without unnecessary friction.
When Activity Does Not Translate into Advantage
On paper, Sabah’s logistics sector looks busy. In practice, much of that activity fails to translate into tangible economic leverage.
A seafood exporter in Sandakan plans shipments with extra buffer days, not because buyers demand it, but because documentation clearance and vessel schedules can be unpredictable.
A small agricultural processor in the interior limits production because delays at ports or checkpoints could disrupt cash flow. These decisions rarely make headlines, yet they shape how Sabah’s economy actually behaves.
Delays are no longer treated as exceptions. They are priced in.
This is how inefficiency becomes normalised — quietly and consistently.
Logistics Shapes Who Can Compete
Logistics is often treated as a technical support function. In reality, it determines who can participate in the economy and on what terms.
Large firms can absorb delays through inventory buffers and stronger bargaining power. Smaller businesses cannot. For rural producers far from Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, or Sandakan, logistics costs are compounded by distance and limited information. When systems are fragmented, geography becomes a penalty rather than a characteristic to be managed.
In Sabah, logistics increasingly affects household transport costs, SME competitiveness, and investor confidence more than incentives or promotional policies ever could. It has become part of the state’s economic architecture.
What Is Actually Broken
Infrastructure limitations, regulatory hurdles, and geography are often treated as separate challenges. In reality, they are symptoms of a deeper problem: no one is responsible for overall system performance.
Roads are planned as projects. Ports are managed as facilities.
Regulations are enforced within agency boundaries. Digital tools are introduced unevenly. Each part functions, but the system does not add up.
This is why infrastructure upgrades alone deliver diminishing returns. A better road does not help if port clearance is slow. A modern port does not help if inland coordination is weak. Geography becomes a serious disadvantage only when systems fail to compensate for it.
Why Technology Has Not Delivered the Expected Gains
Digitalisation is often presented as the answer to Sabah’s logistics challenges. Yet technology, on its own, does not create coordination.
Without shared standards and interoperable systems, digital platforms merely mirror existing silos. Data remains fragmented, visibility remains partial, and decision-making improves only marginally. Technology does not solve coordination problems — it exposes them.
A Choice Sabah Cannot Keep Deferring
Sabah faces a clear choice.
One path continues with incremental improvements: more projects, isolated digital initiatives, and piecemeal reforms. This path delivers visible progress but limited long-term impact.
The other path treats logistics as a system to be governed, not merely a sector to be managed. It prioritises integration across agencies, predictability for businesses, and shared performance outcomes that matter to the economy as a whole. Infrastructure, technology, and regional cooperation then become multipliers — not substitutes — for coordination.
Sabah does not lack activity or ambition. What it lacks is a logistics system designed to convert movement into advantage.
The question is no longer whether Sabah can move goods.
It is whether it can move them efficiently, predictably, and inclusively.
That answer will shape Sabah’s economic future far more than any single project announcement could.
