page_title: North Borneo
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: North Borneo / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: North Borneo Chartered Company: North Borneo Railway; The first train in North Borneo; 3rd February 1898
context_page_description: North Borneo was a British protectorate located in the northern part of the island of Borneo. The territory of North Borneo was originally established by concessions of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu in 1877 and 1878 to a German-born representative of Austria-Hungary, a businessman and diplomat, von Overbeck.
  Overbeck had recently purchased a small tract of land in the western coast of Borneo in 1876 from American merchant Joseph William Torrey, who had promoted the territory in Hong Kong since 1866.
  Overbeck then transferred all his rights to Alfred Dent before withdrawing in 1879. In 1881, Dent established the North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd to manage the territory, which was granted a royal charter in the same year. The following year, the Provisional Association was replaced by the North Borneo Chartered Company. The granting of a royal charter worried both the neighbouring Spanish and Dutch authorities; as a result, the Spanish began to stake their claim of northern Borneo.
context_section_description: With the beginning of well-planned economic activities under British administration, the North Borneo authorities began to open land for agriculture, and native land rights began to be formed. The government however felt that the native population was too small and unsuited to meet the requirements of modern development, so they began to sponsor various schemes for the migration of Chinese workers from Hong Kong and China. In 1882, the North Borneo authorities appointed Walter Henry Medhurst as Commissioner for Chinese Immigration in the mission to attract more businessmen to invest in North Borneo by providing a workforce. Medhurst's efforts were costly and unsuccessful; however, the Hakka, not part of the plan, began to migrate to North Borneo where they formed an agricultural community.
  Since the 18th century, tobacco was North Borneo's foremost planting industry. The logging history in North Borneo can be traced since the 1870s. From 1890s, hardwood exports increased, with logging expanding especially during the interwar period. In the 1900s, North Borneo joined the rubber boom. The completion of North Borneo Railway Line helped to transport the resources to a major port on the west coast. By 1915, around 34,828 acres (14,094 ha) of land, in addition to Chinese and North Borneo smallholdings, had been planted with rubber tree. In the same year, North Borneo Governor Aylmer Cavendish Pearson invited Japanese emigrants to participate in the economic activities there. The Japanese government received the request warmly and send researchers to discover potential economic opportunities.
  At the early stage, the Japanese encouraged their farmers to go to North Borneo to cultivate rice, as their country depended on rice imports. With increasing economic interest from the Japanese side, they purchased a rubber estate owned by the North Borneo government. By 1937, North Borneo exported 178,000 cubic metres of timber, surpassing Siam, which exporting 85,000 cubic metres of timber. Many of the privately owned Japanese estates and companies had been involved in the economic sectors of North Borneo since been invited by the British. With the increasing numbers of Japanese investments, many Japanese also migrate with their family to the east coast of North Borneo, primarily to Tawau and Kunak.
caption: The opening of the North Borneo Railway Line on 3 February 1898 to transport commodity in the west coast area
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