Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has urged Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) Sdn Bhd to take a fresh look at the usage of innovation and technologies in an effort to make Sabah an industrialised state by 2030.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) offered resources outside the box of conventional wisdom, he said in a speech which was delivered by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau, who is also the Trade and Industry Minister at the KKIP 25th Anniversary Dinner at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa here on Friday.

“We have for decades talked about the comparative advantages we have by way of the availability of raw resources, but we cannot really extract our timber the conventional way because the markets condemn deforestation.

“Our palm oil attracts critics because the conservationists accuse us of clearing our forests to plant oil palm.

“We have plenty of coal in the region with which we can produce cheap energy, but coal is a fossil fuel and burning is considered bad for the environment,” he said while highlighting the current challenge was to find a win-win way.

He emphasized that embracing IR4 is inevitable, or risk being made obsolete by it.

“And IR4 is blurring the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds which all become connected. It is a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing and other technologies.

“…Business-as-usual is not enough. For example, in the Free Economic Zone of KKIP which includes hubs for logistics, automotive, aerospace, biotechnology and halal manufacturing, I must assume that IR4 is a part of the thought process or the entire value chain.

“From the products we hope to make, the technologies we want to use to the type of investors we wish to attract, everything must be IR4-compatible,” he said.

Meanwhile, KKIP Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Melvin Desmond said that KKIP had attracted over RM3 billion of investments and created over 9,200 jobs in the past 25 years.

Looking into the state government’s plan to get Sabah as an industrialised state by 2030, to which manufacturing contribution in the state’s GDP is to be increased from 7.3 percent in 2017 to 35 percent by 2030.

Furthermore, according to recent statistics, Melvin said the unemployment rate in Sabah is at 5.6 percent which is higher than the national average and thus more industries should be generated to create more jobs.

Apart from that, two schools located in the vicinity of KKIP received funds as a part of KKIP’s corporate social responsibility program.

The schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan Malawa and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pekan Telipok.

KKIP, a subsidiary of the Sabah Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) and Sabah Urban Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (SUDC), shares socio economic roles in promoting bumiputera participation.

Developing an industrial park with basic infrastructure and persuading investors, KKIP plan encompasses an area of more than 3,500 hectares, making it the biggest industrial plant in Sabah.