Cheng (left) presents a souvenir to Awang Tengah as appreciation for officiating the event. – Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Sarawak’s trade with China in 2018 rose by 16.8 per cent to RM18.91 billion, and constituting 13.1 per cent of the state’s total trade.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said exports in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), vegetable oils, electrical machinery and apparatus, and others made up over RM12 billion of trade with China.
“Major imports from China were chemical products coke, lignite, carbon, aluminium ores, base metals and others,” he said at the opening ceremony of ‘Economic Workshop and Policy Briefing on Cooperation between China and Sarawak’, here yesterday.
Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development and Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, pointed out that Sarawak welcomes investments, both local and foreign.
A section of the workshop and briefing participants.
He said priority is given to industries that employ the latest modern technology and know-how to help Sarawak move up the value chain in the global economy, create highly skilled workforce through technology transfer instead of low wages and labour-intensive, create supporting clusters and downstream industries that involve the local business community, and promote sustainability, green and environmentally-friendly technologies.
“Some promoted industrial sectors include energy-intensive industries and downstream sectors at Samalaju Industrial Park; halal-related industries at Tanjung Manis Economic Development Area in food production, pharmaceutical, health products and cosmetics; high-tech manufacturing at Sama Jaya High Tech Park; petrochemical industry; downstream timber-based industries; oleochemical industry; and data centre and digital economy,” he said.
Awang Tengah noted that recent investments from China included the RM1.05 billion silicon manganese plant by Pertama Ferroalloy, RM2.18 billion integrated solar manufacturing plant by LONGi Technology, and the RM17 million high-grade steel plant by WenAn Steel.
“In agriculture, Guangken Rubber Group from Guangdong had formed a joint venture with Sarawak Farmers’ Organisation to establish the US$20 million Standard Malaysia Rubber factory in Debak, Sri Aman.
“In our power sector, China companies have been active in the construction of our hydroelectric dams, that is Bakun Hydro by Sinohydro Corporation; Murum Hydro by Yangtze Three Gorges Technology and Economy Development Co Ltd; and Baleh Hydro by China Gezhouba Group,” he said, adding that there will be more companies to come.
The deputy chief minister also noted that Sarawak had strength in eco-tourism and that if the state could attract one to two per cent of Chinese tourists, the tourism sector will benefit and expand.
Awang Tengah also believed that because Sarawak offers many competitive advantages, it has constantly remained among the top-three preferred investment destinations in Malaysia for the past five years.
“Apart from the various tax incentives offered by the federal government, the Sarawak government also offers various non-tax incentives. These include providing quality power supply at competitive price – the lowest in the region – and making land readily available for projects at reasonable costs with flexible terms of payment.
“If investors complete their projects within the stipulated time frame, (they) are also entitled to rebates on land premium,” he added.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Entrepreneur and SME Development Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais and Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Kuching, Cheng Guang Zhong.