KOTA KINABALU: 26 October 2026
Italy offers to help promote Sabah ahead of Visit Sabah Year 2027
Sabah looks forward to stronger bilateral cooperation with Italy in investment opportunities covering oil and gas, tourism and higher education.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said this after meeting Italy’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Raffaele Langella, at Menara Kinabalu.
“We welcome the interest of the Italian government and businesses to explore the business opportunities in Sabah further,” he said.
On tourism, Langella said Italy would like to give a helping hand in promoting Sabah in conjunction with Visit Sabah Year 2027 next year.
“The interest in Italy is huge. They know there are many opportunities to explore in Sabah. But they need assistance, perhaps in scouting for investments, so I discussed with the Chief Minister how we are going to go about it.
“Next year, it will be Visit Sabah Year 2027, so we would like to give a helping hand (in promoting Sabah),” he said.
Langella said Italy is also keen to explore opportunities in Sabah’s higher education sector.
“University cooperation is a very interesting field and promising. Italian universities are more and more competitive, and they are very much interested in expanding their activities in this part of the world, and in Sabah in particular,” he said.
He hoped the meeting would pave the way for stronger relations and lead to meaningful decisions in the future.-HS
