By The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused health and economic crisis that disrupted businesses and affected the livelihood of the people across the globe.
The pandemic had significantly weakened global growth prospects where Malaysia’s economy saw a decline by 5.6 percent, the biggest contraction since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
Just like the rest of the world, Sarawak was not spared from the significant downturn and experienced broad-based fall in its economic activities with exports shrank by 24.2 percent and unemployment rate increased to 4.3 percent in 2020.
Even though the pandemic caused many upsets and challenges to the socio-economic norms, the change presented and unlocked new opportunities for Sarawak to forge ahead for a brighter future.
The Sarawak Economic Action Council (SEAC) was formed on 6 May 2020 to formulate the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 to ensure the state can embark on a full-fledged transformation capitalizing on mega trends around the world such as globalisation, new industrial revolution, circular economy, and a low carbon economy.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had envisioned that by 2030, Sarawak will be a thriving society driven by data and innovation where Sarawakians enjoys economic prosperity, social inclusivity, and sustainable environment.
“I am confident that we can realise Sarawak’s 2030 aspirations as we have efficient civil service and proactive private sectors that are working very hard to develop Sarawak.
“The PCDS 2030 is a testimony of our commitment towards prosperous, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable Sarawak – together we will achieve more,” he said.
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government under the leadership of Abang Johari aims to double the size of the state’s economy from RM136 billion to RM282 billion in 2030.
To achieve this target, Sarawak’s economy needs to grow on average of 8.0 percent per annum until 2030.
Under the PCDS 2030, the state government is targeting to create 195,000 new job opportunities, raise household income to RM15,047 as well as reduce urban and rural development gaps.
There are six economic sectors namely manufacturing, commercial agriculture, tourism, forestry, mining, and social services which were defined as the main engine of growth anchoring the PCDS 2030.
In the manufacturing sector, Sarawak would be promoted as the preferred investment destination for high-value downstream activities of resource and non-resource-based industries.
For the commercial agriculture, the state government is focusing on projects that capitalise on modern farming and global partnerships to enable the state to be a net food exporter by 2030.
The state government also wants Sarawak to become a leading destination for eco-tourism and business events in the ASEAN region driven by empowered communities to conserve heritage, culture, and biodiversity besides promoting investment and developing tourism.
As for forestry, the state government wants Sarawak to become globally recognised in sustainable management of tropical forests and biodiversity conservation while enhancing the growth of the timber industry.
Sustainable approaches to monetise Sarawak’s rich resources would be implemented to provide economic opportunities for the rural communities.
While the mining sector is currently driven by oil and gas upstream activies which provided the feedstock for the petrochemical industry, Sarawak is exploring other mineral resources such as silica, sand, rare earth, and kaolin for high-value downstream activities.
Under social services, Sarawak aims to provide a high living standard in an inclusive society with affordable and innovative service delivery for Sarawakians.
As such, various massive infrastructure development to facilitate economic and investment activities have been undertaken by the state government
An estimated total of RM63 billion had been committed to implement the first phase of PCDS 2030 under the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP); RM30 billion came from direct development expenditure and RM33 billion from alternative funding.
“We are accelerating our infrastructure development to improve the standard of living, grow our economy to provide business and job opportunities and train our people to be resourceful and increase their income level,” said Abang Johari.
He expressed confidence that the development of the six economic sectors would position the state as an attractive investment destination.
SOCIAL INCLUSIVITY
The state government is eager to have all Sarawakians to have equal opportunities to participate in the state’s overall development and enjoy equitable distribution of wealth through jobs and business opportunities thus creating an inclusive society.
Abang Johari said social inclusivity would be enhanced by narrowing the urban and rural development gap with greater economic integration, capacity-building, and community participation.
With this in mind, he wants projects or initiatives in the state to be people-centric and the distribution of wealth to the people must be equitable.
“Income gap will be reduced with an improved Gini coefficient. The low-income household percentage in Sarawak is currently at 53 percent and this must be addressed holistically.
“In 10 years, we will have to reduce this significantly with an objective to reduce it to below 40 percent. For every Sarawakian, access to social services will need to be improvement and we also must not forget the vulnerable segments of our society,” he said.
At the same time, the state government is setting up five international schools in Sarawak with the target of producing globally competent students.
The five international schools namely two in Kuching and one in Bintulu, Sibu, and Miri respectively will serve as an avenue for parents who cannot afford to send their children to international schools to study there.
“We bring the children of farmers and fishermen to these residential international schools. We are giving the venue for the smart kids particularly those form the rural areas to study where the curriculum is of international standard,” Abang Johari said.
In order for Sarawak to achieve its aspiration of becoming a developed state, one of the efforts by the state government was to prepare students to have good English proficiency so that they can be accepted by the international communities.
Abang Johari said if there is a bright student in Sarawak, he or she may be sent to overseas to countries like the United States, United Kingdom or Australia for their postgraduate studies.
“This is where they must have a good command of English and that is why the state government decided that we must have our own schools that produce students that are not ‘jaguh kampung’ (home-ground champion) but ‘jaguh dunia’ (world champion).
“When they are ‘world champions’, they will be able to attend renowned universities and when they come back, they can transform our economy,” he said.
ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY
As environmental sustainability is an integral part of Sarawak’s development initiatives, it is the duty for all stakeholders to ensure clean and healthy environment for current and future generations.
The state government had set a target to ensure sustainable economic activities through adoption of new technologies and innovation, continuation of environmentally sound practices such as greening efforts and improved enforcement of regulatory frameworks.
Abang Johari pointed out that the state government has always prioritised sustainable development and is committed to striking a balance between the need for development and safeguarding the wellbeing of Sarawakians.
He said the state’s ultimate environmental goal would be to have an environment with the highest quality of all living creatures.
He also said the emphasis on environmental sustainability would pave the way for more investments flow into Sarawak that will co-create solutions, more green jobs, and business opportunities to drive the economy in a sustainable manner.
“As the state government continues its transformation agenda towards turning Sarawak into a developed state with a high-income economy by 2030, we must be mindful of our moral and social responsibility to safeguard our environment and to sustainably manage and conserve our natural resources,” he said.
The state government is also developing The Sustainable Sarawak Blueprint to guide all government agencies, businesses, and communities in achieving the state’s desired environmental sustainability goals.
The said blueprint will address concerns related to biodiversity conservation and natural resources management, climate change mitigation and adaptation while enabling the creation of an environment with modern infrastructure in line with the country’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) drive.
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