E-WALLET SYSTEM: File photo shows Abang Johari accepting a smartphone as a memento from State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani (right) after the launch of Sarawak Pay in Kuching. Looking on, from left, are deputy chief ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
ON Nov 15 last year, Sarawak became the first state in Malaysia to own an e-payment system with the launch of Sarawak Pay.
The app, available for download via Apple Store and Google Play, is a cashless mobile payment solution implemented by the state government to empower the state’s digital economy agenda. It represents a big step towards digitalising Sarawak economy.
With Sarawak Pay, payment is made through electronic wallet (e-Wallet), credit card or Internet banking.
This makes Sarawak the first state government in the country to implement the e-Wallet system, which is licensed under PaymentGalaxy®Wallet and governed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Users can top up their Sarawak Pay e-Wallet balance, which can be up to RM3,000, through online banking or credit card.
Initially, the ‘Scan & Pay’ feature can be used to pay Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) and Kuching Water Board (KWB) monthly bills, assessment rates of all 26 local councils, as well as bills from Grand Margherita Hotel and Riverside Majestic Hotel in Kuching.
There are plans to expand the ‘Scan & Pay’ feature to all government agencies and other utility bills, retailers and merchants in Sarawak.
Sarawak Pay was realised in seven months after Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced and deliberated Sarawak’s plan to move to a digital economy at the International ICT Infrastructure and Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (Idecs) 2017 held in Kuching last April.
Sarawak Pay is also one of the key initiatives, apart from the proposed Light Railway Transit (LRT), by the state government to help generate more activities for the local economy.
As Abang Johari himself had said, this initiative was in line with the state government’s aim towards a cashless society and he had pledged that having Sarawak Pay was not for the sake of having it, but to serve as a facility that would ease business transactions – small and big alike.
Study visits by the government were made to China and Estonia last year to study the e-payment system and also to formulate Sarawak’s statewide multimedia and communications and infrastructure developments.
In China, ‘WeChat Pay’ and ‘Alipay’ mobile applications are being used widely to make payments – providing convenience to daily life, from shopping at premium outlets, riding taxis, dining at restaurants, to visiting the wet markets and even using the public toilets.
Estonia, on the other hand, has a model that offers a workable solution for Sarawak in order to provide fast Internet connectivity and penetration, crucial to the development of a digital economy.
The rise of this Baltic nation to become digital economic power in the European Union has made Estonia a role model for Sarawak.
However, Internet broadband connectivity has been a challenge for Sarawak as many rural areas across the state do not enjoy fast Internet.
To resolve this, the state government under Abang Johari has set aside RM1 billion to build more telecommunication (telco) towers and other related infrastructure to ensure all Sarawakians could participate in digital economy.
The launch of Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), after it was passed in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN), and the first version of Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy Book 2018-2022 on Dec 13, heralded the start of digitalisation transformation of Sarawak.
SMA is the lead agency for Sarawak digital economy transformation, tasked with overseeing and regulating the digital strategies and initiatives in the state.
The Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022 is a document that spells out the vision, mission and strategies, and also contains ‘47 Strategic Actions’.
The state government now targets to have a communications backbone system with a capacity of five to six terabit per second (Tbps), which should be sufficient in meeting increasing demands as the state leapfrogs into digital economy.
Abang Johari has said that the state government would collaborate with Telekom Malaysia (TM) and Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) towards providing high-speed Internet for Sarawakians.
The chief minister gives his assurance that the government is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that all the initiatives announced by him to transform Sarawak’s economy will take off within the next two to five years.
Once the various digitalisation and other income-generating initiatives have been implemented, Sarawak would be able to achieve higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth from the current four to six per cent that Sarawak must attain, should it strive to become a developed state by 2030.