Prof. Tanakinjal said the new policy should prioritise these sectors – international finance, logistics and trade, oil and gas, new energy, tourism, agro and food security, education and the digital economy.
In international finance, he said Labuan International Business and Financial Centre should be strengthened through Islamic digital banking, green finance and fintech offerings, supported by the introduction of a digital asset sandbox to attract blockchain-based investments.
For logistics, he said Labuan could be developed into a regional free trade and e-commerce hub, with port modernisation including cold chain facilities to support agro-food and fisheries exports to markets such as Japan, South Korea and China.
“In the oil and gas sector, Labuan should move beyond upstream activities into downstream segments such as LNG bunkering, maritime fabrication and maintenance, while simultaneously investing in renewable energy, including solar, offshore wind and green hydrogen,” he added.
He said Labuan could be repositioned as a duty-free lifestyle tourism destination, featuring wellness resorts, yacht marinas and MICE tourism, alongside niche offerings such as World War Two heritage sites and coral reef-based eco-tourism.
In agro and food security, Prof Tanakinjal said Labuan has the potential to become a national model through deep-sea aquaculture, seafood processing for export and agro-tourism initiatives.
On education and the digital economy, he said Labuan could be developed into a digital nomad hub with high-speed connectivity and special visas, supported by the establishment of international satellite campuses in fintech, maritime and tourism, as well as investments in data centres and artificial intelligence.
He said the implementation should be phased over five years, from 2025 to 2030, beginning with strengthening the Labuan IBFC ecosystem and logistics infrastructure, followed by large-scale tourism, energy and agro projects, and culminating in Labuan’s emergence as a regional hub for data centres, AI and hydrogen exports. “With the right strategic policies, Labuan can be repositioned not only as a revived centre of trade and investment, but also as a strategic national asset linking Malaysia to ASEAN and East Asian markets,” Prof Tanakinjal added.
“Labuan has the potential to become a new growth engine for East Malaysia and contribute meaningfully to the nation’s long-term economic development,” he concluded.
