Najib impressed with SCORE’s progress

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KUCHING: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is impressed with the rate of progress attained by Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy (SCORE) that has attracted keen interest and participation from both local and foreign investors.

He made encouraging comments after launching the Corridors and Cities Sarawak 2012 Open Day  at the old State Legislative Assembly (DUN) building at Petra Jaya yesterday, accompanied by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Visibly impressed with the exhibition, Najib was all smiles when he spent almost half an hour looking through the details on SCORE and its current achievements, as well as the outcomes of the Corridors and Regional Cities Lab, which he announced on June 21 last year.

He was briefed by State Planning Unit (SPU) director Datu Ismawi Ismuni, who was accompanied by chief executive officer of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) chief executive officer Datu Wilson Baya Dandot.

Among those highlighted during the event were the various Entry Point Projects (EPP) and new opportunities in the state’s 10 key focus areas, which include aluminium industry, glass industry, steel industry, oil-based industry, palm oil industry, fishing and aquaculture industry, livestock industry, timber-based industry, marine engineering and tourism industry.

The one-day event was jointly organised by the state government and Prime Minister’s Office through SPU, Pemandu, Recoda and other agencies such as the Public-Private Cooperation Unit (Ukas).

Response to the event was encouraging with almost 20,000 people at the car park of nearby Wisma Bapa Malaysia who came to witness the launching ceremony of Sarawak’s leg of the Jelajah Janji Ditepati held yesterday morning.

For Sarawak, the Corridors and Regional Cities Lab was conducted in Kuala Lumpur and also in Kuching last year and was jointly organised and facilitated by Pemandu, a unit in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Visitors to the open day were also impressed with SCORE as a major initiative undertaken by the government to develop the central region and to transform Sarawak into a developed state by the year 2020 and beyond.

While it aims to achieve the goals of accelerating the state’s economic growth and development, as well as improving the quality of life for the people of Sarawak, SCORE is a massive project which is achievable through keen efforts and cooperation between the government, the private sector and the people.  SCORE is one of the five regional development corridors being developed throughout the country.