Awang (fifth left) and Yeoh (fourth left) standing with corporate and associate sponsors of the 2nd Sarawak Business & Investment Summit yesterday. — Photo by Kong Jun Liung
KUCHING: Sarawak’s tourism industry has much potential to be developed, while the agriculture sector has been projected to display only slight growth.
In his opening keynote address at the 2nd Sarawak Business & Investment Summit yesterday, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem yesterday affirmed that tourism sector has a lot of potential to be developed as one of the major contributors to the state’s economy.
“In 2014, the State received 4.86 million visitors, an increase of 11.1 per cent over the previous year. In terms of tourist receipts, the State received RM10.89 billion in 2014, compared to RM9.59 billion in 2013,” he said.
His text speech was read by Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, Minister of Public Utilities and Minister of Industrial Development, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
The services industry is projected to grow by five per cent this year, Adenan said, with the accomodation and restaurant sub-sectors expected to benefit from the state’s tourism promotional programmes such as ‘Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015’ and the ‘Culture, Adventure and Nature’ programme.
To further boost the growth of the tourism industry, areas of connectivity have been identified to focus on, especially flights to other parts of Sarawak besides Kuching.
“We must acknowledge that the tourism industry is very important to the State not just for its economic potential, but also for its more sustainable model of inclusive economic growth to help bring more development to the rural communities,” he added.
On the agriculture industry, commodity prices are expected to remain low this year, hence it is estimated to grow by only two per cent. However, as the need for food security becomes more pressing with the increase in global population, we need to adopt a longer term view on agriculture,” the Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institue (ASLI) chief executive officer and director Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh in his welcoming remarks said the state government has been providing the right leadership for the state and have been able to successfully maintain political stability, business-friendly environment and providing economic certainty which are prerequisites for economic growth and development.
“We also believe that Sarawak is at the threshold of a new era, with sustainable growth and with greater state autonomy,” he said.
He noted that it is imperative for Sarawak to ensure that it has excellent education as education and human capital development is very vital for the continued growth of the state. Managing the environment and employment, whereby the people of the state must be able to enjoy the benefits of development by being fully employed, are also vital for continued growth.
He also believed that the state government would be working hard to enhance the competitiveness in the state as well as to ensure that the state develops competencies among its people and to further enhance connectivity which includes rural connectivity.
Also present were Assistant Minister in Chief Minister Office and Assistant Minister of Resource Planning, Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais; Assistant Minister of Industrial Development and Assistant Minister of Community Development Peter Nansian Ngusie; Assistant Minister of Industrial Development (Promotion and Investment) and Assistant Minister of Rural Development Datuk Julaihi Narawi; and Assistant Minister in Chief Minister Office and Assistant Minister of Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh.