KUCHING: The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is determined to reduce low-income households in Sarawak from 53 percent to 30 percent in the next ten years.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said this would be done through an inclusive and caring approach in all planned developments.
“Almost all groups of society, whether they are low-income households, individuals with disabilities, those who did not finish their schooling, minority ethnicities, and others are given attention without any exclusion,” he said.
He said this in his address at a state dinner held in conjunction with Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s 84th birthday celebration at the State Legislative Assembly Banquet Hall on Saturday.
Abang Johari said an inclusive society was one of the three pillars upon which the Sarawak Economic Action Council’s (SEAC) post Covid-19 economic recovery strategy towards 2030 was based, with the other two being economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.
He said in order for Sarawak to achieve the status of high-income developed state by 2030, it needed to achieve Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of eight percent compared to the current five percent.
“Although this rate is quite high, we need to do a leap strategy and focus on key sectors by increasing GDP from RM133 billion a year to RM282 billion by 2030,” he said.
Abang Johari pointed out that the government had identified key economic sectors and catalytic initiatives in its post Covid-19 economic recovery strategy towards 2030.
These included advancing high-value downstream manufacturing, forest replanting efforts, improving the quality of social services to the people, renewable energy development, among others.
“These economic sectors will be encouraged through digital transformation, innovation and entrepreneurship, education, infrastructure, transportation, and utilities.
“All these efforts are aimed at evolving a developed state with an average household income soaring from RM5,000 to RM16,000 by 2030,” he said.
The chief minister also said that the GPS government had introduced various assistances under Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) packages to ease the people’s burden caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said a total of RM2.55 billion had been allocated by the state government to implement three BKSS packages.
Abang Johari said that although the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was not fully over yet, there were signs of decline in its spread.
“I thank all the parties involved such as the frontliners who are working so hard and are so committed in carrying out their duties,” he said, while also commending the people’s discipline in complying with the government’s directives during the pandemic.
