Sarawak eyes setting up trade office in Bangkok

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Abang Johari (front, right) chats with Sasitorn, on his right, as they make their way to the function hall. — Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: The Sarawak government will consider setting up a trade office in Bangkok, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

However, this proposal would very much depend on the trade volume between Sarawak and Thailand over the next couple of years.

“If the trade volume is big and the business volume is big, then we may consider – but not now. It is (still) premature,” he told reporters after launching ‘Bridging Trade and Investment Relations between Thailand and East Malaysia (Sarawak) Trade Forum 2019 and Business Matching’ at Pullman Hotel here yesterday.

According to Abang Johari, Sarawak is looking at establishing trade offices in Pontianak and Brunei, following the setting-up of its inaugural office in Singapore.

“Pontianak is in the plan. The next one ‘lah’, after Singapore,” he said, adding that the establishment of the Brunei office would come after Pontianak’s.

Asked how soon the trade office in Pontianak and Brunei would be set up, the chief minister said: “Within these two years. Actually it is within negotiation.”

At the launch earlier, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia Narong Sasitorn said Malaysia is the kingdom’s largest trading partner in Asean, representing a trade volume worth US$25 billion.

“Being the (respective) second and third largest economies in Asean, we Thailand and Malaysia have the size and the volume. We believe that if we continue to facilitate and liberalise our economic ties, we could achieve a far greater number.”

On Sarawak, Sasitorn viewed it as ‘a major player in the Malaysian economy’.

“You (Sarawak) have all what it takes to achieve your plan of becoming a developed economy by 2030 — if not before.

“The digital economy agenda, industrial diversification, service industry, abundant natural resources, advanced education – to name a few, will definitely propel Sarawak economy to greater heights,” he said.

The Thai ambassador added that the new capital of Indonesia in Kalimantan would mean ‘a huge surge of investment, urbanisation and thus consumption in Borneo’.

“Sarawak will play an important role in this new regional development,” he opined.

Moreover, Sasitorn said Thailand and Sarawak should explore agriculture especially agro-technology and food technology, as well as automotive parts supply chain, downstream activities of petrochemical products, tourism including medical tourism, education and digital economy, as far as areas of potential cooperation were concerned.

“I see a lot of potential business links between BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) and the mainland SEA (Southeast Asia) – the two sub-regions of high economic growth.

“Thailand and Sarawak can play a very important role in this linkage,” he added.