Abang Johari (centre) chairs the SEAC ‘s first meeting today. Also seen are his deputies Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas (left) and Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing. – Photo by the Chief Minister’s Office
KUCHING: The Sarawak Economic Action Council (SEAC) held its first meeting today, and members are reminded to look into 14 economic sectors and enablers to form a cohesive robust strategy to guide it to become an advanced state by 2030.
Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg who chaired the meeting said by 2030, the state would have a thriving society driven by data and innovation where everyone would enjoy economic prosperity, social inclusivity and a sustainable environment.
“In arriving at Sarawak’s vision (to become an advanced state in 10 years’ time), it is about our people and fulfilling their needs. This vision is anchored on three pillars, (which are) economic prosperity, inclusive society and environmental sustainability,” he said.
He said this in his opening address at the SEAC meeting at Wisma Bapa Malaysia, the state’s administrative centre at Petra Jaya here.
The meeting also involved his three deputies, namely Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, as well as two former Federal Ministers — Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar and Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
The 14 economic sectors and enablers that will be focused on are commercial agriculture, manufacturing, agro commodities, mining, services, forestry, renewable energy, tourism, basic infrastructure, digital transformation, education and human capital development, transport, innovation and utilities.
The SEAC first meeting chaired by Abang Johari at Wisma Bapa Malaysia today. – Photo by the Chief Minister’s Office
Abang Johari said that there would be five levers involved in achieving this aspiration including regulatory framework and policies, inter-agency alignment, data innovation, infrastructure and connectivity, as well as skill and entrepreneurship.
He said the aspiration also required Sarawak to grow at eight per cent annually in order to double the size of its economy from RM133 billion in 2018 to RM282 billion by 2030, with the commercial agriculture, mining, forestry, manufacturing, and services as its growth engines.
“We will accelerate our efforts in precision agriculture and modern mining using 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) technologies to provide the feedstock to develop high-value products and services,” he said, adding that technology and innovation would be adopted to lift existing productivity levels in all sectors.
Abang Johari said the growth for Sarawak should not only be reflected in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but could be felt by every Sarawakian as the state government wanted to increase the average household income from RM5,000 currently to RM16,000 per month, while its low income household percentage to be reduced from the present 53 per cent to below 40 per cent.
“I want our projects or initiatives to be rakyat-centric. The distribution of wealth to the rakyat must be equitable,” he said, while stressing on improving access to social media for every Sarawakian and the needs for ample attention to the vulnerable segments of the society. – Bernama