The Pan-Borneo Highway project will create thousands of employment opportunities, especially at the peak of its construction.

Acting Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said the project is one the many initiatives taken by the government which will have a positive impact on the employment sector.

"In 2012, the unemployment rate in Sabah is 5.6 per cent but thanks to the efforts initiated by the government, we managed to reduce it to 4.9 percent in 2014.

"However it increased slightly to five percent in 2015 and this is perhaps due to the decline experienced by certain industries like the oil and gas industry where many multinational companies involved in the supply chain were badly affected by the falling oil price," he said at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, here, on Tuesday.

Tawfiq was responding to a supplementary question by Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi who proposed to the government to consider providing free driving licences and car loan aid to unemployed youths to help them hunt for jobs.

"The proposal mentioned by the Kapayan assemblyman can be considered and I would like to state here that the government will conduct more programmes (to increase employment opportunities) in the near future."

Earlier, to a question by Sebatik assemblyman Datuk Abd Muis Picho, Assistant Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Datuk Hamisa Samat said to date, 24,697 job seekers in the State had benefitted from the Sabah Job Centre's Job Portal.

She also disclosed 1,865 employers had registered in the Job Portal which was consistently posting job vacancies.

Apart from that, she said, the Sabah Labour Department is also active in holding employment carnival programmes throughout the State by bringing in potential employers to offer job opportunities in various sectors, including in the peninsula.

"In 2016, 13 such programmes were conducted and a total of 6,245 people received job placements through the programmes," she said.

Another programme which had shown the positive result is the career roadshows which are organised through an NBOS (National Blue Ocean Strategy) cooperation between employers, training providers and government agencies.

"In 2016, the districts involved in the roadshows were Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Kudat, Kota Marudu, Ranau, Keningau and Beaufort which managed to provide job placements for 2,770 job seekers.

"This year, the career roadshows will be continued in six big districts, namely Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu and Sandakan," she said