The delegation at the BYD headquarters. Uggah is at seventh right.
SHANGHAI, China: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is currently leading a delegation from Sarawak on a week-long official visit to Shanghai and Shenzhen since August 5 to benchmark digital economy initiatives in the two cities.
Among the places visited was the headquarters of BYD Corporation (BYD), a top Chinese company which manufactures various technology products and specialising in IT products, batteries and power storage solutions, automobiles and mass transportation.
The visit to BYD headquarters in Shenzhen on Tuesday was to explore opportunities for collaboration with BYD and identify prospective products and solutions of the company that are relevant to the digitalisation of Sarawak’s economy.
During the visit, the delegation from Sarawak was briefed on the motivation, direction, success factors and human resource development of BYD as the largest electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) producer in the world.
Uggah (second left) and other members of the delegation take a closer look at the durian sold at the Shanghai Agriculture Wholesale Market.
The two parties also exchanged views on the feasibility of production, distribution and sales of BYD products such as electric bus and monorail in Sarawak for domestic and regional markets.
Later in the afternoon, the delegation visited the headquarters of Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent), one of the largest Internet companies in the world which derives the bulk of its income from online gaming.
The company shared insights on how it grew from being an online messaging service provider to become one of the world’s most valuable companies today.
The session covered the business model of Tencent, its corporate culture, its products and challenges. Among Tencent’s solutions found to be relevant to the state’s digital economy is the WeChat Pay online payment platform.
On Monday, Uggah and the delegation were in Shanghai for a meeting with the management of Shanghai Agriculture Wholesale Market.
Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, in his remarks said the application of 2D barcode technology such as the QR code could enhance the demand and value of the products.
The barcode technology allows consumers to easily access records of each agriculture product throughout its whole production chain.
The technology could also be applied for cashless mobile payment and electronic agriculture product exchange process.
The delegation touring the grape farm. Uggah is at second right.
During the meeting, both parties agreed on the need to foster greater interaction between Sarawak and the agriculture wholesale market to enable a win-win co-operation.
The wholesale market could provide first hand intelligence on demand trends in China to help farmers and agriculture product suppliers to adjust their production to meet the actual demand.
Based on the input, agriculture research and development activities in Sarawak could be geared towards producing agriculture product varieties that fulfil the export market demands.
Earlier in the morning of the same day, the delegation visited the Shanghai Shiquan Grape Association, where members shared their techniques to produce and market grapes.
This includes the use of sensor technology, greenhouse and fertilising techniques to control the environment to allow growth of more variety and higher quality grapes.
“The Agriculture Department of Sarawak will carry out the research on feasibility of grape farming in Sarawak,” said the statement.