Govt wants Labuan IBFC to trigger local economy

LABUAN: The federal government strives to turn the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC) into a business and financial hub that can help trigger more meaningful economic activities on the island, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said.
The Prime Minister said it was time for Labuan IBFC to take a relook at its operational journey to enable it to provide an additional spillover and integrate its operations with the local economy.
"And today we are launching the Labuan Financial Services Authority's (Labuan FSA) Financial Transformation Plan which is expected to bring the desired impact," he said when launching the Labuan Development Blueprint 2030 here today.
Najib said the federal government is aware that Labuan IBFC has been operating for so long and has become one of the world's fastest-growing mid-shore and financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region.
For over 30 years, Labuan, as a duty-free island, and Labuan IBFC, have played an important role in the country, he added.
In another development, Najib said the federal government would always ensure that the projects being planned and implemented should benefit the people.
"If we were to look at the economy on a larger dimension or from the micro perspective, we should be concerned that while driving the economy at the micro level, we must implement projects that can directly benefit the people," he said.
The Prime Minister cited the launch of the People's Housing Project (PPR) and the 1Malaysia Public Housing Project (PPA1M) in Batu Arang, Labuan as examples of the government's commitment in ensuring that the projects being planned would benefit of the people.
The PPR project has 500 apartment units with facilities such as a surau, a community hall and a kindergarten, he added.
"What is interesting is that the Batu Arang PPR will be rented at an unbelievable rate of RM124 per month, while the price of each unit price can be likened to a mega sales price as it is sold at only RM42,000 against its construction cost of over RM215,000, with government subsidies totaling RM173,000 per PPR unit," he said.
Likewise, he said the Batu Arang PPA1M project for civil servants has 160 units of one-storey terraced houses with a floor area of ??1,000 square feet and are priced from RM190,000, which is 40% lower than the market price.
"The government has allocated more than RM3 million in the form of easy funds as a subsidy to help civil servants in Labuan to own these houses," he said. — Bernama