Team reviewing printed charts and reports around a desk

FOUR INDUSTRIES · ONE ENABLER

Where the opportunity lies.

Four industries where Sabah’s resources, location and incentives compound, and the energy backbone the state is building underneath them.

Talk to an investment officer

Chosen where Sabah holds a structural edge, not a subsidy.

Each priority industry sits on something that cannot be relocated: the resource, the coastline, the shipping lane or the feedstock. State policy under Sabah Maju Jaya 2.0 is to process and brand here rather than ship raw output away, and the incentives follow that logic.

THE FOUR INDUSTRIES

Large sheets of clear float glass moving along a roller conveyor towards an annealing furnace, with two operators at a control station

Manufacturing

Solar glass, battery-grade materials, green steel and oleochemicals, heavy industry built around low-carbon power.

RM 50 bn† APPROVED INVESTMENT SINCE 2021

Combine harvester working a ripe field with palms and hills behind

Agriculture

Commercial crops, integrated plantations and downstream processing, grown, processed and branded in-state.

25%† OF MALAYSIA’S PALM OIL

A Rafflesia bloom on the rainforest floor

Tourism

Low-impact resorts, wellness and coastal infrastructure across UNESCO-designated sites and primary rainforest.

9 TERRESTRIAL & MARINE PARKS

Stacked shipping containers in a port yard behind the quay

Logistics

Container transshipment, air cargo, MRO and cold-chain on the BIMP-EAGA lanes.

1.25 m TEU SAPANGAR BAY CAPACITY ON COMPLETION

† Investment values proposed, pending verification against agency records.

THE ENABLER

Offshore wind turbines beyond a rocky coastline at low sun

Energy

Hydro, solar, biomass and bioenergy under SE-RAMP 2040, firm low-carbon power contracted before you break ground.

187.5 MW UPPER PADAS HYDRO, IN CONSTRUCTION

THE PIPELINE

Seventeen open propositions, across five sectors.

Filter by sector. Each proposition comes from that sector’s page, where the site, the input and the terms sit.

MANUFACTURING

Refining and fractionation

Capacity that keeps the higher-value cuts in Sabah instead of shipping crude palm oil to Peninsular refiners.

MANUFACTURING

Oleochemicals and specialty fats

Fatty acids, alcohols, glycerine and confectionery fats, made beside the catchment that grows them.

MANUFACTURING

Solar and EV component manufacturing

Module, cell and balance-of-system production, battery materials and wiring for ASEAN assemblers.

AGRICULTURE

Cold chain, grading and traceability

The link between smallholder volume and buyers who pay premiums for certified quality.

AGRICULTURE

Oleochemicals and specialty fats

Downstream conversion at POIC Lahad Datu, the state’s stated priority for agribusiness land.

AGRICULTURE

Biomass valorisation and biogas

Pellets, biochar and fibre from mill residues, plus methane capture with power offtake.

TOURISM

Accommodation

Branded and boutique rooms outside Kota Kinabalu, particularly around the parks and in the highlands.

TOURISM

Wellness and long-stay

Highland retreats, marine spa resorts and long-stay recovery residences, close to absent at investable scale.

TOURISM

Nature, rainforest and marine

Premium low-density lodges and island capacity within park carrying limits.

TOURISM

Culture and community

Professionally run community ventures and culinary product; the assets are abundant, the operators are not.

TOURISM

MICE and events

Venue capacity and professional event services, plus incentive-travel operators.

LOGISTICS

Warehousing, distribution and smart logistics

Automated storage and fulfilment beside 1.25 million TEU of container capacity coming on stream.

LOGISTICS

Cold-chain logistics

Multi-temperature capacity for seafood, produce, pharmaceuticals and FMCG on both coasts.

LOGISTICS

Air cargo and MRO

Line, base and component maintenance at Malaysia’s second busiest airport.

ENERGY

Utility-scale solar with storage

Solar inside the grid’s intermittency headroom, and the storage that widens it.

ENERGY

Bioenergy at 800 MW

Residue-fired generation on the largest bioenergy resource in the country.

ENERGY

Firm renewables: hydro and geothermal

Upper Padas phases and the 100 MW Tawau geothermal prospect.

ALREADY BUILDING HERE

Global manufacturers have already committed. Construction is underway.

Esteel Group

Integrated green steel manufacturing complex

RM 31 bn

SIPITANG · ONGOING

Kibing Solar Group

Silica sand processing and solar PV glass manufacturing

RM 10.2 bn

KOTA KINABALU, KIMANIS · IN EXPANSION

SK Nexilis

Ultra-thin copper foil plant

RM 2.3 bn

KOTA KINABALU · OPERATIONAL

Tell us what you want to build. We’ll tell you where it fits.

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