KUCHING: Foreign investment totalling RM8.5 billion and involving 38 projects in the state has been recorded in the first nine months of this year.
Minister of Industrial Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said 21 of the projects managed to attract some RM6 billion in foreign direct investments while the rest (17) involving RM33 million in capital investment had been approved by the Industrial Coordinating Committee.
“The investment is capable of creating over 3,000 job opportunities for the people.”
Awang Tengah represented Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at the launch of the programme to explore opportunities in commercial and industrial sectors in the state here yesterday. Also present were Assistant Minister of Investment and Promotion Julaihi Narawi.
The minister said based on ‘Malaysia Investment Performance 2011’ by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), Sarawak managed to attract the highest new capital investment in 2011 – RM8.17 billion while Penang only managed RM4.48 billion and Selangor (RM4.38 billion).
“Most of the investment is due to the initiative of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE). We manage to achieve this even when the world is suffering from economic instability after the March 2011 earthquake in Japan and the Eurozone crisis,” he said.
He added that up till now, SCORE managed to attract about RM30 billion in investments through 16 projects which were also expected to create 15,000 job opportunities.
Awg Tengah therefore urged the private sector to take advantage of incentives provided by the state and federal governments to invest in new business opportunities especially in projects related to SCORE.
“As envisaged in the Economic Transformation Programme, the private sector must be the main driver in a market which recognises innovation and creativity while the government plays the role of coordinating through improved framework,” he said.
He added that the private sector must continue to improve and upgrade innovation, skills and technology in order to remain competitive.
Awang Tengah added that the federal government, through its agencies, was offering several incentives such as pioneer status, investment tax allowance and re-investment allowance.
“The state government is also offering incentives in terms of rebate for land premiums if industrials lots are developed and completed within the stated timeframe,” he said.
He also said that the state government had also signed an MoU with SME Bank to improve the capacity and ability of small and medium enterprises.
“The government will continue to play a role in developing SMEs in the state. Our masterplan was formulated to speed the growth of SMEs,” he said
He said that SMEs should not only be looked at as catalysts for development, but also as the drivers for development.
“We would like to see more SMEs contributing to the economic growth of our state and nation by 2020. Our goal is for SME to contribute 40 per cent of the GDP, 62 per cent of employment and 25 per cent of exports,” he said.