KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian leader Najib Razak unveiled on Thursday (Jan 18) a “manifesto” to diversify the economy of the financial hub of East Malaysia, in a bid to consolidate support in the area ahead of the general election this year. Prime Minister Najib gave details of the 12-year Labuan Development Blueprint (LDB) for the federal territory of Labuan, which is made up of islands located near Sabah and Sarawak, the two key states for his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. It is the latest initiative by Kuala Lumpur geared towards Sabah and Sarawak, where grumbles over unfair treatment compared with Peninsular Malaysia threaten what are known as “fixed deposits” for BN – the two states account for more than a third of its strength in Parliament. Malaysia’s general election is expected by May. An ambitious project – the 5,324km Pan-Borneo Highway – is already being built across infrastructure-starved East Malaysia, and the Najib administration has begun handing back some autonomy to their state governments. The LDB is expected to diversify the economy of Labuan, a former sleepy territory that had grown steadily for a quarter of a century thanks to the oil and gas industry. But Labuan, whose main island is one-eighth the size of Singapore, was badly hit by the oil and gas downturn from 2014 to 2015. The blueprint aims to integrate Labuan, which has a low-tax regime for industries such as banking, insurance and finance, into the economies of Sabah and Sarawak. Nobody can control the global price of oil. But as a government, we cannot leave this be. We must intervene and create new ideas for Labuan. The blueprint for 2030 will create a better future, and if you make the right decision later, we will deliver real change for Labuan,” Datuk Seri Najib told thousands attending the launch event. Analysts say that while concessions to Sarawak will likely maintain BN’s grip on Malaysia’s largest state, the coalition may face a sterner test in Sabah, where former Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal is leading a fierce campaign against his former colleagues.
