“The service sector contributed 54.4% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which was valued at RM1.5 trillion in 2017.
”It has also created 3.6 million employment opportunities, mostly comprising high-income jobs in industries such as in e-commerce, information and communication technology, and healthcare.”
Salleh, who is also Usukan assemblyman, said this in his speech when opening the annual general meeting of the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Usukan parent-teacher association here today.
He announced a RM50,000 allocation to repair the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Usukan hall and another RM20,000 for its parent-teacher association, as well as a RM30,000 allocation to repair the village roads.
The minister said the government’s capability to create such a large number of job opportunities was the result of its policies and detailed planning after taking into consideration the world development, and also due to the presence of peace and harmony in the country.
Salleh said the presence of peace and harmony in the country required wisdom and determination to sustain them, so that many more programmes could be planned and carried out by the government for the benefit of the people.
“Hence, the government takes into account the changes in current employment opportunities. If we do not take that into account, our approach will be wrong.
“In the past, we wanted our children to work as district officers, executive officers, clerks and so on, but the future of employment is no more in that sector.
“Our job opportunities will be in the service sector such as tourism. So for us in Sabah, including those in Kota Belud, we are focusing more on the tourism sector,” he said.
Salleh said that in tandem with the new job opportunities provided by the government, today’s generation also needed to equip itself to venture into the current and future employment sectors.
He added the people needed to look to the future by continuing to support the current government to continue the development and employment opportunities.
“That’s why we are implementing the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) for the future of our children and we provide the infrastructure so their lives will be more secure,” said Salleh.