Long way from full potential

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Adenan says state still has much room for growth, attractive to foreign investors

Adenan (fourth left) at the launch of the 3rd Sarawak Business and Investment Summit. On his left is Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Adenan (fourth left) at the launch of the 3rd Sarawak Business and Investment Summit. On his left is Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

KUCHING: Despite being the third largest contributor to Malaysia’s economy, contributing RM118.9 billion last year, Sarawak has not reached its full potential and there is much room for development and growth.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem said this at the opening of the 3rd Sarawak Business and Investment Summit here yesterday.

Adenan added that the state’s main sectors were in the area of services comprising 33.1 per cent of its economic activity, manufacturing (27.2 per cent), mining and quarrying (22.1 per cent), agriculture (14.3 per cent) and construction (3 per cent), with room for improvement in each sector.

For the service sector, the Chief Minister said the state recorded 7.3 million visitor arrivals last year, most of them foreign tourists.

He noted that the world was intrigued with Sarawak’s unique bio-diversity and cultural heritage.

“We have many potential foreign investors in the tourism sector. Just for example, a Singaporean company is interested in developing our natural assets and a Chinese company is looking into developing service apartments under the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ programme.

“We are also working on arranging charted direct flights between Miri and Chinese cities. Miri is the next area of growth, being home to a large oil and gas community and Gunung Mulu, a Unesco World Heritage site, as well as the world famous Niah National Park,” he said.

Adenan believed investment into the Pan-Borneo Highway would stimulate underdeveloped tourism attractions, saying greater connectivity would enable tourism and other business activities to thrive.

This, he added, would eventually help narrow the development gap between the various regions such as Kuching, Miri, Bintulu and Sibu.

He said more investors and service providers would be needed to accommodate the expected rise in the influx of tourists, and provide accommodation and other services which are ideal investment opportunities.

In the construction sector, he said the state was expecting more opportunities to be created through the implementation of various infrastructure development projects such as roads to improve connectivity and water and electricity supply.

“We are also building more schools and clinics especially in the rural areas to improve accessibility of these services for the people,” he said.

With the state’s growing population, especially in the urban areas, he said demand for residential properties and commercial buildings would also increase, thus presenting an opportunity for investors to work together with Sarawakian developers in property development.