Taib (third right), Abang Johari (fourth right) and other dignitaries waving the Sarawak flags during the Sarawak Day celebration.
BINTULU: Sarawak economy needs to be developed in tandem with the current global trends, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
In view of this, Abang Johari said the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is currently transforming Sarawak towards digital economy.
“Being a younger generation of Sarawakians, definitely we will adjust to the new demands of Sarawakians, especially in the new era of global economic development,” he said during the state-level Sarawak Day 2019 celebration at the Old Bintulu Airport here which was graced by Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and his wife Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Ragad Kurdi Taib.
He said the new generation of Sarawakians led by him and other state leaders would bring Sarawak to greater heights in its development in the quest of Sarawak to become a high-income and developed state by the year 2030.
Abang Johari noted that the performance of foreign and domestic investments in Sarawak are among the top in the country.
“Bintulu alone, especially in Samalaju, Sarawak has attracted a total of RM13.76 billion worth of investments which provide 11,000 job opportunities with and overall worth of investments from 2016 to 2018 at RM23.7 billion,” he said.
Taib, Abang Johari and other senior ministers looking at a replica of a gold hornbill at the official launch of the celebration.
He said in September, there would be an official launch for the construction of methanol plant owned by the Sarawak state government in Tanjong Kidurong.
“Surely this project will further driven local economy in Bintulu and provide more job opportunities to our Sarawak children,” he said.
He added various initiatives had been planned and implemented to ensure that Sarawak is capable of transforming driven by digital technology.
“Yesterday I just launched the Sarawak Pay in Sebauh…So far Sarawak Pay has 100,000 users and 6,000 registered merchants with more than RM60 million worth of transactions,” he said.
On the state financial management, Abang Johari said for the past 17 years, Sarawak financial management had been given ‘clean bill of health’ from the Auditor-General and credit ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s with the latest 24 agencies audited in 2018 achieved an ‘excellent level’ in financial management.
Considering that Sarawak is spending big with RM11 billion being allocated to develop its infrastructure, Abang Johari said it was therefore vital for the state government to have good financial management.
“With this prudent spending in two years for infrastructure development, I believe we can boost our economy between five and six per cent in our effort to become a developed state by year 2030,” he said.
Earlier, thousands of people gathered at the Old Bintulu Airport to celebrate the Sarawak Day despite heavy rain in the morning.
Abang Johari said Bintulu was chosen due to the significance of the first state council meeting on Sept 8, 1867 held here.
Also present were Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Masing, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan and Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.