by Karen Bong
KUCHING, July 9: Sarawak has been working together with Brunei on various sectors to further enhance the economic development in this region.
Brunei Minister of Transport and Info-communications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib today had a brief meeting with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg after the closing of the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2019 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here this afternoon.
Earlier at IDECS, both leaders witnessed the exchange of signed documents between Sacofa Sdn Bhd with DST International (B) Sdn Bhd, which is a subsidiary of Datastream Technology Sdn Bhd from Brunei, to establish a joint venture company, Datastream Sacofa Telecommunications Alliance Sdn Bhd (DSTA).
The strategic collaboration was aimed at offering more broadband choices of international quality to Sarawak.
On the meeting, Abang Johari disclosed that they discussed about Sarawak-Brunei collaboration in terms of netwok connectivity.
“DST International of Brunei will be working together with Sacofa to explore the possibility of using Brunei’s network gateway to link with Sarawak fiber optics,” he fielded questions from reporters.
“Secondly, he (Abdul Mutalib) brought a message from the Sultan of Brunei (Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah) on keenness to collaborate in terms of economic development including in tourism and agriculture sectors,” he said.
“Our collaboration in the information technology (IT) sector is ongoing and in agriculture, there’s a special taskforce, which is under DCM (Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar) Awang Tengah (Ali Hasan) and together with DCM (Datuk Amar Douglas) Uggah, we are working with our Brunei counterparts to establish a common agriculture area between Lawas, Merapok and Brunei,” he added.
According to a media release, DSTA’s business objectives include the acquisition, management, maintenance or provision of network facilities, network services, applications services, and content application services.
This new development is expected to further boost the rollout of affordable high-speed broadband in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
