KUCHING: Sarawak registered a total trade value of RM143.7 billion last year compared to RM137.6 billion in 2017, said E-commerce Assistant Minister Datuk Naroden Majais.
He was responding to a question from Dennis Ngau (GPS-Telang Usan) on government achievements in international trade in the State Legislative Assembly here yesterday.
Naroden added the state registered a total trade value of RM24.5 million for the first two months of this year compared to RM22.5 billion for the first two months of last year.
This was an increase of 9.1 per cent. Naroden, who is also Entrepreneur and Small, Medium Enterprise Development Assistant Minister, said Sarawak’s trade had been resilient despite the world economic uncertainties.
“Exports grew by 10.6 per cent from RM15.7 billion to RM17.4 billion where imports increased slightly by 5.5 per cent from RM6.7 billion to RM7.1 billion.
“Export receipts from liquefied natural gas (LNG) remain the biggest contributor at 48.3 per cent, followed by crude petroleum at 11.1 per cent and palm oil at 7.8 per cent,” he said.
Naroden revealed that the major export partners also remained the same, namely Japan (27.4 per cent), Peninsular Malaysia (14 per cent), and China (12.4 per cent).
He said these three markets contributed 53.8 per cent to Sarawak’s total export value.
“Our main import items are still machinery and transport equipment (33.8 per cent), followed by chemical products (15.0 per cent) and manufactured goods (11.7 per cent),” added Naroden.
He added that as of February this year, among the commodities that contributed to the state’s economy were oil and gas (64.8 per cent), manufactured goods (24.02 per cent), agriculture products (10.61 per cent) and other merchandises (0.53 per cent).
“Though we do export agriculture products, the volumes are considered small compared to the potential demand of our local fruits overseas.
“Fruits such as durian, rambutan, pineapple, mango, and banana are highly sought after by countries like China but we are not ready yet to cater to the demands,” he said.
Naroden said that various programmes including initiating precision and smart farming had been implemented to improve the quality and sustainable production of the fruits for the export market.
“Additionally, various programmes to promote the eCommerce community in the rural areas had also been carried out, and all the programmes are designed to suit local conditions,” he explained.
He added that his ministry was also partnering with other relevant federal and state government agencies such as SMA, Tegas, Martrade, Mara, Mdec, SSM, SME Corporation and Famaon its various eCommerce programmes such as Agro Bazaar Online, eUsahawan Desa, eTrade, eRezeki, Celik IT Penuh Kocek, and My Shop 9.
