Sarawak Government will table a new ordinance to govern the development and management of all aspects of the digital world in the next sitting of the State Legislative Assembly before the end of this year (2017) as the first step into the digital world economy.
The proposed ordinance will provide the legislative framework for establishing a new entity to be called Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), which will be set up by early January 2018.
The Sarawak Multimedia Authority shall further create and oversee the development of two new entities namely Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) and the Centre of Excellence for Digital Economy.
Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg, in his winding speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud for his opening speech, said he would personally be driving the formation and development of SMA to ensure that the policies for Digital Sarawak will be properly formulated and developed. The benefits derived from the new economic dimension must benefit the people and the economy of Sarawak.
He said he would take the chairmanship of Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), which will be guided by a Board of Directors, which will be made up of experts in various aspects of the digital world.
Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC), to be fully owned by Sarawak Government, will be managed by local talents and guided by a Board of Directors, which will be made up of experts in the digital technology and economy.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari said the role of SDEC would be to implement policies and programs for the development of Digital Sarawak in line with the policies of the SMA. In this regards, SDEC would undertake trigger projects to stimulate the Digital Economy as well as to encourage the private sector to participate and flourish in it.
He said SDEC would also be responsible for the development of Digital Highway and Big Data Analytic Engine and managing the implementation of Cyber security, E-commerce and talent management.
He said another area to be formulated by SMA will be Digital Village, an ecosystem for the start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors or even Government agencies to develop and express their ideas and innovation.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari said SMA, which will develop a framework for managing Digital Village for youths, will oversee through SDEC the development of State owned Digital Village and encourage the setting up of similar environment by the private sector. SMA will also facilitate technopreneurs to get fund and access markets through the Digital Village in order to support the young technopreneurs.
He said the role of the SMA would be to set policies and standards for the development of a world-class standard Digital Sarawak on several key areas including Digital Infrastructure, Cyber security, Digital Government, E-commerce, Talent development, Digital Village and start-ups and R&D in digital technology.
The role of the Centre of digital Excellence will be to undertake R&D activities and to advise SMA of any developments, which require a change in policy or standard. The Centre will invite as partners, universities as well as reputable researchers and practitioners, of both local and global origin. The key areas of R&D shall be smart cities, tourism, agriculture and other economic areas. The R&D will be carried out locally.
He believed there are people with relevant expertise already in the Digital Economy, doing programming, web design and creating content. There are also others in angle financing, who are looking for promising start-ups. They will be immediate beneficiaries when Big Data opens up by the first quarter of next year (2018).
In the meantime, efforts must be made to popularize the Digital Economy with young people including graduates by encouraging them to get ICT certification for various types of jobs in the digital world.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari said Sarawak has already collaborated with Huawei on exploring ways to develop Digital Economy including training of talents. The training modules are currently available Online. In this connection, all interested parties are encouraged to be involved in the development.
He is working to get people certified on Digital Program such as being done by Huawei or any other reputable programs, by the third quarter of next year. After that, SDEC will provide a longer-term program for knowledge and skills training and certification.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari said the State Government will allocate a budget of RM10 million a year for Sarawak Digital Start-Up Fund to encourage people to get involved in start-ups. This fund will provide a basic supporting allowance for young people, whose proposed projects have been approved for development as a start-up. The funding will start by early next 2018.
He would like to see at least 100 start-up projects by the end of 2018. Those, who have successfully developed their start-up projects, will need additional funding in order to develop their projects further.
He has already allocated RM30 million for setting up the Digital Village to undertake the start ups programs to be launched by August this year. For e-commerce, the State will introduce a portal, which is connected to the global digital market that is suitable for local producers. There are many levels by which the e-commerce can be developed.
He believed that State, in the short term, could immediately promote the cottage industry as well as seasonal fruits and food, which often crops up now and then in various remote parts of Sarawak.
He could imagine that the e-commerce could be up and running in a very short time. However, the State needs more time to ensure that transport, logistics and the complete supply chain should be put in place.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari, who is also the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Urban and Natural Resources Development, said it is an honor to speak, for the first time in his capacity as the Chief Minister in the august House. It is an honor as well as a challenging task to lead Sarawak boldly into a new future, which is being defined by the rapid changes that can be seen in the global economy and in the technology that is revolutionizing the way the whole world lives.
During his first 100 days, he has announced a number of initiatives, which have caused so much apprehension among the DAP members that they are now in “hot soup” and “hot air”
His initiatives are to leapfrog the economy into the current global digital frontier. Those who do not have the courage to embrace bold ideas, instead of leapfrogging, they find them living under the coconut shell.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari pledged as long as he is the Chief Minister, he will ensure that all the initiatives will be implemented. If anyone has any doubt of his capability and promise, they are “hot air” themselves.
Unlike in Penang under DAP, which until today, has not been able to implement their LRT project as promised. The LRT in Sarawak will be funded by the state’s own financial model and not direct Federal funding.
He said Sarawak economy is still growing but not as strongly as it has been used to. It is not the fault of the State as the growth of the world economy has been pulled up by the rise of China. The current economic consolidation of China has brought about a fall in commodity prices to lower but more sustainable levels.
Therefore, if Sarawak wants to get out of dependence on natural resources and get into the digital world, which has been growing by leaps and bounds, creating millionaires by the day, it must create good jobs for young people so that it can grow faster.
Sarawak Government will spearhead the digital development but will leave it to the private sector and the young entrepreneurs, the talented Sarawakians to do whatever they can do to make a living and a name for themselves.
Sarawak Government will provide all the necessary incentives to help young start-ups to formalize their operations. It will encourage greater digitization and more automation, especially in the city centers, agriculture, manufacturing and services, including tourism.
The State will use the availability of energy to attract global digital companies to host their operations in Sarawak. For this, the State needs to upgrade digital infrastructure to world class level; the State government will push the development to achieve the target.
The State will not forget the rural villages, which must be connected in order to bring tele-medicine, e-learning and e-commerce to them. The growth of the rural areas will be accompanied by the development of transport and logistics to ensure that the development is complete with supply chains.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari declared: “this is my vision and indeed the vision of Barisan National for Sarawak. God willing, it will come true.”
The people in Sarawak must put their heads together to figure out how to leapfrog into the global technological frontier and participate in the global digital market place as it cannot afford to be mere bystanders consuming the global technological revolution.
The State must take seriously the responsibility to ensure that the world today and tomorrow also belongs to the children and grandchildren and make efforts to find new ways to open up new opportunities for young people. It is important to take big leaps into the right direction and plan ahead strategically.
Understandably, there will be many technical issues that need to be solved in the implementation of the strategic plan to move ahead. But they could be left to the technical people to solve them.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari believes Sarawakians are generally strong and resourceful people. Many of them have done very well in various fields at home and abroad. Many of them are in the global Diaspora because they are searching for a suitable environment that allows them to be at their best. While they may be working overseas, most if not all of them are still very much Sarawakians at heart.
He said the State is very proud of Sarawakians, who have chosen to stay back and contribute to homeland to ensure that it continues to grow richer in very own culture and identity. Sarawakians at home are known for racial tolerance and social cohesion, choosing to live in peace and harmony and helping each other to overcome difficulties that life often throws at them when they are least expected.
He said it is this Esprit De Corps among all Sarawakians, both at home and abroad, which makes the people proud of themselves for it allows them to live a life that is both meaningful and purposeful.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari believes it is possible for Sarawak to grow faster and achieve a higher standard of living, if the local economic environment could be made more conducive for entrepreneurship and business ventures.
One of the best ways to improve the local economic environment is to open up. The local economy must be made more accessible for everyone so that anyone, who wants to make a good life, will have a chance to do so in Sarawak.
Unavoidably, the people must also expose themselves to the challenges that will come domestically as well as from overseas. They cannot afford to close themselves and protect their comfort zone. They must search for new opportunities, open their minds to new ideas and look far ahead into the future.
Generally, the people want new opportunities to flourish from ideas that come domestically from young Sarawakians as well as those from other countries, who find Sarawak fascinating as a place to work and live.
Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari said Sarawak welcomes all talent, both local and global with the primary focus of “opening up” Sarawak to create new opportunities for business ventures and jobs. New business ventures come from good ideas that can provide solution to problems in real life.
In this regards, the people must constantly re-invent themselves in order to remain relevant to the world of today. It is the constant search for relevancy in the ever changing world that creates new opportunities for all the people regardless of their ethnic origins and religious beliefs; Sarawakians of all races.
