Samling Strategic Corporation chief executive officer Lawrence Chia (centre) receives the CMIEA on behalf of Samling Housing Products Sdn Bhd, from Abang Johari (second left). Looking on are (from right) Morshidi, Dr Sim and Abang Abdul Karim.
KUCHING: Sarawak looks up to Estonia, a small country in Europe, as a model for the state’s economic transformation into digital economy.
According to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, the formation of Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) signals the move towards emulating Estonia, which is now the digital leader in Europe.
Speaking at the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Industry Excellence Award (CMIEA) 2017 here on Friday night, he revealed a Bill on the legislative framework of SMA would be introduced in the next State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting this November.
He said the proposed SMA would regulate all aspects of digital economy and also would open the market so that telecommunications (telco) companies and other related bodies could contribute towards enhancing the state’s digital infrastructure.
“And through that authority (SMA) too, we could identify our roadmap to transform Sarawak, similar to Estonia in Europe. Estonia is a small country with population of 1.3 million, but it has made major impact on the European economy today.
“Everything is seamless there – I would like Sarawak to be ‘another Estonia’ in this region,” he said.
Abang Johari also said Yayasan Sarawak, of which he is the chairman, is making available the scholarships up to post-graduate levels – a move that would drive Sarawak on its roadmap to digital economy.
These courses include molecular engineering, cyber security, analytic data, biology engineering, and new types of management and methodology in running businesses.
“These are offered only to Sarawakians. This is with the hope that they would do research and development, add value to our resources and become global players in today’s business,” he said.
Abang Johari also expressed his optimism that Sarawak would roll out its first version of ‘Big Data’ by April next year.
He said through ‘Big Data’, businesses could come up with new and innovative products based on information shared with the government sector.
“This is the way we run our business, this is the way we run our country and economy and eventually, the whole population would be involved in exploring new products and innovations for the international market.
“The world’s engine of growth is in this region – India, China, East Asia and South East Asia – and, we are right in the middle of this particular region and we are fortunate that we have abundant resources for us to leapfrog to high income economy,” he said.
On the CMIEA which was introduced this year, Abang Johari said this initiative by Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) would strengthen the government’s agenda on enhancing the nation’s productivity.
He hoped that both SBF and the state government would continue to work together on common platform as Sarawak moves forward into the digital era.
The CMIEA, regarded as the state’s highest corporate award, was won by Samling Housing Products Sdn Bhd.
A total 20 companies took part in the inaugural CMIEA, where they were awarded with gold, silver and bronze awards based on scores accumulated.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Assistant Minister of E-Commerce Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani and SBF president Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg were also present at the event.
Morshidi was also presented with a special certificate in recognition of his efforts in boosting the productivity in the state’s civil service.
Abang Johari (centre), with Abang Abdul Karim on his right, joins other award recipients and guests in a photo-call.