Foremost, it is an honour to have the esteem presence of His
Excellency Lasse Reiman, Denmark's Ambassador to Malaysia. A very warm
welcome indeed to Sabah and we hope you will have a pleasant stay whilst
deliberating on the issues at hand. Denmark and Malaysia have had a long
history of cooperation and the Government of Denmark has been very active
in international co-operation directed towards environmental issues and
2. Following the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
in Rio, I have been told the Government of Denmark has committed itself
to the resolutions reached at the conference and has since then provided
substantial funding to various projects in many places worldwide. In Malaysia,
we have benefitted from Denmark's assistance through the Integrated Coastal
Zone Management (ICZM) project implemented in the states of Penang, Sarawak
3. This has been possible through the Danish Co-operation for Environment
and Development or DANCED in brief. In Sabah, the ICZM project is a joint
effort between the State and DANCED which has pooled various expertise
together to make the venture a success. On behalf of the State Government,
I wish to convey the state's appreciation to the Government of Denmark.
4. Mother nature has endowed us with vast natural resources including
fertile land, rich marine resources and other natural attributes that supports
life and provide us with fresh air and water. However, in many parts of
the world unsustainable forms of development and utilisation of resources
have threatened these resources. In Sabah, we are now very much concerned
with coastal resource utilisation and we are looking into every aspect
to ensure the protection of our coastal resources.
5. Through the ICZM project, we hope to facilitate a sustainable Coastal
Zone Management. Sabah's coastal zones should get priority given that the
impact of development is greatest in the coastal zone where the population
is concentrated and where changes brought about by socio-economic development
6. Unsustainable development often harm the environment causing the
gradual degradation and depletion of natural resources and eventually we
would be faced with land use conflicts. Among others, I understand that
the ICZM project will address these aspects and aim to change non-sustainable
development approaches to more sustainable ones.
7. Threats to human survival are now a global concern. For example,
the destruction of the ozone layer has drawn the attention of many scientists
who have pooled resources to address this phenomena. Increasingly, many
nations have taken steps to address environmental and resource management
issues and more people are aware of the dangers and risks caused by these
8. There is therefore, an urgent need for co-operation in managing environmental
conservation and sustainable resource management. To successfully formulate
policies and effective programmes addressing the issues that threaten the
world at large depends on the consensus and co-operation of national and
regional governments. Leaders and professionals must discuss such issues
and develop action programmes. Resources and know-how have to be shared
in addressing such issues especially in the mitigation of arising problems.
9. As you deliberate on the topics of discussion, I hope you would identify
problems from the present methods of resource utilisation within the coastal
zone and find alternative opportunities and ideas to further develop ICZM.
ICZM is an important tool for proactive Coastal Zone Management. Systems,
plans, strategies, and policies can only be effective if its potential
is implemented fully. Therefore, the importance of networking and increasing
co-ordination in all phases of ICZM management cannot be underestimated.
Accordingly we are honoured by the presence of members from the commonwealth
partnership for technology management (CPTM), whose experience in networking
may be helpful to the state and national efforts to sustain ICZM.
10. One of the important tools that have been developed by the ICZM
project is the Sabah ICZM home page which contain a wealth of information
on the development and natural resources in the state's coastal areas.
More importantly, it offers a venue for information exchange, discussion
11. With that, it is my pleasure to officially launch the Sabah ICZM
Homepage and to declare the Sabah ICZM Conference open. Thank you and I
wish you a fruitful conference.