By Larry Raion

KOTAK INABALU: Sandakan is expected to become an important regional trade hub within the BIMP-EAGA region three years from now with the completion of a proposed Sandakan Integrated Trade Exchange Terminal (SITExT).

The Construction of this RM315 million joint-venture project between Windsor Trade Sdn Bhd (WTSB) and Sabah Economic Development Corporation (Sedco) is expected to commence soon following the signing of a shareholder agreement between both parties here Wednesday.

It was sealed between WTHSB Chairman, Datuk Mohd Syariff Ibrahim, and Sedco Group General Manager, Maisuri Besri, and witnessed by Industrial Development Minister Datuk Ewon Ebin, in a ceremony held at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu.

Also present were Industrial development Assistant Minister, Jainab Ahmad, WTSB Director/Legal Adviser, Athmat Hassan, WTSB Executive Director, Tengku Shaifful Bahri Tengku Zainal Abidin, as well as the board of directors of WTSB and Sedco.

Currently barter trade contributes substantially to the district’s economy, with some RM2 million in local goods shipped out to Mindanao monthly and a similar amount in goods entering Sabah from the Southern Philippines.

“It is the State government’s hope that with the completion of SITExT, Sandakan will experience accelerated economic growth and regain some of its luster as an important and major regional trade hub within the BIMP-EAGA,” said Ewon.

With proper facilities including a grain warehouse, bunkering areas, and a CIQ Complex in addition to a passenger ferry terminal with a commercial centre, SITExT will have a big impact on Sandakan in more ways than one, he added.

Ewon is optimistic that apart from facilitating regional trade and giving added impetus to Sandakan’s economy, SITExT will help channel local commercial activities in the direction of related small-scale industries to expand the overall regional BIMP-EAGA trade.

Towards this end, he said, his Ministry would be monitoring these development with the purpose of assisting in the development of local industries and enterprises that have the potential to benefit from SITExT.

“On the government’s part, it is also important to ensure compliance with the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine regulations,” said Ewon, adding SITExT that will be built at Batu Sapi will replace the existing barter trade terminal at Sim Sim, also in Sandakan.

SITExT, when completed, will facilitate and modernize the regional barter trade that is such an important component of Sandakan’s economy. Those living in the district know quite well the long history of trade between Sabah, Mindanao and the bordering Indonesia provinces, said the Minister.

In the pre-colonial era this trade was largely unregulated but towards the second half of the last century, the State and Federal governments took steps to regulate the regional barter trade for obvious reasons.

“Barter trading today is a far cry from the traditional business of merely exchanging goods…today, barter trade is no longer just the exchange of goods between parties but similar to normal business where goods and services are sold and bought between different parties.

“This development has made it necessary for the government to upgrade the facilities at Sandakan to ensure adequate docking and landing facilities for the smaller vessels engaged in regional trade, along with dedicated facilities and amenities geared to meeting the specific needs of the barter traders,” said Ewon.

Sedco is being given 20 percent equity in the project free of liabilities and not subject to dilution at ay given time, which Ewon said signifies WTSB’s sincerity and genuine regard for the State’s interests in this business venture.

Taken from Daily Express 07th September 2006