Sandakan Harbour Mall rising above Sandakan downtown
bridge, walkway/ramp, land
works, as well as drainage.
“To increase the efficiency of
operations and passenger
safety, the project also
involves additional checkin counters, immigration
counters, closed-circuit
television cameras, new lifts
and escalators,” he said.
The upgraded airport is
expected to accommodate
around 1.5 million
passengers per year
compared to 800,000 at
the moment due to its
huge capacity. The project
is proceeding smoothly
and the government is
committed to complete it
within the expected period.
Commercial Growth
In January 2003, the
Sandakan Harbour Square
(SHS), an urban renewal
project, was launched in an
attempt to revive the town
centre as the commercial
hub in Sandakan. It features
a shopping mall, shop lots, a
new central market and fish
market, and hotels. The new
RM500 million commercial
focal point the Sandakan
Harbour Mall is poised
to further strengthen the
town’s position as a major
commercial and tourism
hub in Sabah.
SHS aims to be the enabler
and catalyst for Sandakan’s
economic growth, business
activities and urban
development. The Sandakan
Harbour Mall and the Four
Points by Sheraton Hotel,
which are in Phases 3 and 4
of SHS is making yet another
new era for Sandakan town.
Since then a lot of new
shop lots have been coming
up, and Sandakan is also
expecting a brand new
street mall, Sejati Walk in
Mile 7. Estimated to be
completed in 2017, this twostorey mall will consist of
340 retail units, plus the first
food street in Sandakan.
As the project is located
about 10 minutes away from
the airport, it aims to also
be a tourist driven centre
with various activities and
festivals expected to be
held throughout the year.
The second phase will also
include Sejati Walk 2, hotels,
a large supermarket and a
wet market. These efforts
will hopefully help revive
the city to its former glory
and further strengthen
Sandakan’s position as
Sabah’s second biggest
urban metropolis and as
one of the key tourist and
economic destinations in
the Malaysia.
Increase of Foreign
Investors
The leisure properties
development related to
tourism industry will be the
The latest highrise development, Sri Utama Condominium developed by IJM Land in Bandar Utama
PR1MA billboard seen along Sandakan’s highway
upcoming trends in Sabah
especially in Sandakan and
this is expected to entice
more foreigners to reside in
Sabah under the Malaysia
My Second Home (MM2H)
Programme.
The Ministry of Tourism,
Culture and Environment
Sabah is working hand in
hand with SHAREDS to
boost the high-end tourism
market in Sabah and to
produce more leisure
properties to attract more
MM2H applicants to stay
and spend monies and
make Sabah as their second
home.
This will help stabilize the
slowdown of the property
sales in the local market.
Quek predicts that investors
from China will definitely
play a role as there is a lot
of interest from them in
Malaysia especially since
our country is located
close enough to China and
communication is easy as a
lot of locals can converse in
Chinese.
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