Awang Tengah Ali Hasan
KUCHING (Nov 13): About 73 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sarawak are expected to register losses this year due to the economic repercussions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
The Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development said the SMEs had to adopt strategies to survive in new business landscapes by embracing digitalisation for their business operation to address challenges.
“In our efforts to cushion the disruptive impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic to the people including SMEs, the state government has provided numerous assistance valued at RM1.741 billion under Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS), in addition to the assistance provided by the federal government through Prihatin and Penjana,” he said when delivering his winding up speech today at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN).
Awang Tengah said his ministry had set aside RM50 million for the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme for SMEs this year alone.
He said his ministry had also, among others, allocated RM80.7 million as subsidies for the Special Relief Fund for SMEs to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
To date, he said the State Industrial Coordination Committee (ICC) had approved 56 investment projects totalling RM21.6 billion, creating about 11,600 employment opportunities for the state.
Out of these, he said 19 were Industrial Coordination Act (ICA) 1975 projects totalling RM15.8 billion, mainly in basic metal products, wood and wood-based products and transport equipment product.
He added that these projects were expected to create about 6,000 employment opportunities in Sarawak.
“The remaining 37 ICC projects totalling RM5.8 billion are mainly in electrical and electronic products, non-metallic mineral products, wood and wood-based products, renewable energy, transport equipment products and others.
“These investments are expected to create about 5,600 employment opportunities in the state,” he said.
Under the 11th Malaysia Plan, Awang Tengah said the total approved investments for Sarawak’s manufacturing sector was recorded at RM51.9 billion, creating about 31,900 new jobs.
He added that the foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for 57.8 per cent or RM30 billion of the total approved investments while the domestic direct investment (DDI) constituted 42.2 per cent or RM21.9 billion.