By Noorazlina Jindeh<\/p>\n
KOTA KINABALU, Dec 18\u00a0(Bernama) — Policies that\u00a0will be formed and implemented by the Unity government are expected to provide the biggest\u00a0possible opportunities for Sabah\u2019s\u00a0economic sector\u00a0to grow and boost development in the state.
\nUniversity Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor\u00a0Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor said this is because Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia, rich in\u00a0oil and gas resources, aside from being the country\u2019s main oil palm producer.
\nKasim, who is also a\u00a0member of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council, said that\u00a0exploring the state’s natural resources and adding value through continuous efforts will be able to help improve the economy of the local communities which had been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
\n\u201cThe government has already been formed, now we are focusing on developing the country in general and Sabah in particular, so in this regard we expect the main focus to be on strengthening the economy so that those affected by the impact of COVID-19 can breathe.
\n\u201cIf possible, the government can give more and better opportunities and create wider spaces for\u00a0entrepreneurs, and the government\u2019s facilities can be channelled as fast as possible to the people,\u201d he said to Bernama.
\nKasim said all sectors need to have their own strategies to accelerate their growth, adding that in Sabah, the focus is on\u00a0developing the agricultural sector which has the potential to grow even further, while the tourism sector that was halted\u00a0a few years ago due to the pandemic should be reopened with monitoring against COVID-19.
\nHe said the state should not be left behind in the country\u2019s development since aside from being rich with natural resources, Sabah is also known for the cultural and artistic diversity of its multiracial community.
\nMeanwhile, Kasim, who was appointed as UMS\u2019 seventh deputy chancellor on Oct 3,\u00a0hopes that UMS can be used as a reference university in the region, especially in marine science studies due to the state’s strategic location.
\nAdditionally,\u00a0he said, the field of agriculture is also one of UMS\u2019\u00a0main focuses since it has a Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture in Sandakan, with many agriculture experts as lecturers.
\nKasim said that the research carried out by the UMS researchers\u00a0will help the government,\u00a0particularly in improving agricultural productivity and at the same time\u00a0producing\u00a0world-class human capital.
\n\u201cAmong other things, my aim is to ensure that UMS becomes\u00a0a leader in innovation,\u201d added Kasim, who holds a\u00a0Master’s degree in Economics from\u00a0Indiana State University, United States.
\n— BERNAMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Noorazlina Jindeh KOTA KINABALU, Dec 18\u00a0(Bernama) — Policies that\u00a0will be formed and implemented by the Unity government are expected to provide the biggest\u00a0possible opportunities for Sabah\u2019s\u00a0economic sector\u00a0to grow and boost development in the state. University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor\u00a0Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor said this is because Sabah is the second largest state in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":17495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17496,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17494\/revisions\/17496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}