By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, May 24: Sarawak has recorded a total investment of RM32 billion, creating more than 5,000 new employment opportunities in 2022, says Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Awang Tengah, who is also the Deputy Premier of Sarawak, emphasised that the primary sector contributed RM22.3 billion, followed by the manufacturing sector, which contributed RM5.2 billion, and the services sector, which contributed RM4.5 billion.
“For manufacturing related investments in the period of 2022 until the first quarter of 2023, Sarawak has approved RM9.6 billion for 87 projects.
“These investments are expected to create more than 6,700 employment opportunities,” he said when delivering his winding-up speech in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here today.
He went on to say that among the major projects approved during that time period were those in the following sectors, namely, Electrical and Electronic Products at RM6.29 billion (substrates for hard disk drive, solar ingot and wafer, and processed semiconductor wafer; Basic Metal Products at RM2.58 billion (copper foil, metallic silicon, etc); Plastic Products at RM167 million (plastic pipe); Services at RM110.4 million (warehouse, logistics, and cold storage); and Chemical and Chemical Products at RM106 million (fertiliser).
“Under the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, manufacturing is among the six economic sectors identified to propel Sarawak’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at six per cent to eight per cent per annum, necessary for us to achieve developed economy status by 2030.
“This sector had contributed RM37.2 billion or 28.4 per cent towards Sarawak economy and employed more than 167,000 people in 2021.
“Thus, the Sarawak government will continue with its business-friendly policy to attract more investments so as to create more business and employment opportunities in Sarawak,” he explained. — DayakDaily
