KUCHING: Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen has proposed a “carrot and stick” mechanism in the taxation structure to reward industries and businesses using green or renewable energy with tax rebates.
He suggested that companies using renewable energy sources with low or zero carbon emissions should receive tax incentives, while those consuming fossil fuel energy with high carbon emissions should be taxed at a higher rate.
“This will help to move our economy towards our national goal of reducing carbon intensity against gross domestic product (GDP) by 45 per cent by 2030 and achieving a net-zero carbon emission country by 2050.
“In this respect, Sarawak, as a region currency generating 75 per cent of its electricity from hydropower with its Batang Ai Dam (108MW), Bakun Dam (2,400MW) and Murum Dam (944 MW), has contributed greatly towards this national goal,” he said when debating on Budget 2024 in Parliament, recently.
He pointed out that by extrapolating this power generation mix in Sarawak, it can be concluded that at least 75 per cent of industries and companies in Sarawak would have been using renewable energy as their energy source.
“Thus, there should be a mechanism set up by the government to properly and systematically recognise this and accord the industries and businesses in Sarawak with appropriate rewards in the form of preferential tax rates or additional grants for keeping the country green.”
Without such a system, he said there are states in Malaysia that contribute the greater part of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of the country but enjoying more rapid economic growth, while those who help the country to lower its carbon intensity experience slower economic growth.
“The externality of the high-polluting states is passed on to the low-polluting states. That is not fair to state like Sarawak which is a low-polluting state.”
Meanwhile, he also called on the federal government to come up with policies making Sarawak more attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI) as compared to Semenanjung Malaysia.
He noted that Malaysia attracted RM71.4bil in approved investments in the first quarter of the year, with FDI contributing RM37.5bil and DDI contributing RM33.9bil.
He added that the top five states that attracted a significant portion of the approved investments for the first quarter were Kuala Lumpur (RM21.8bil), followed by Johor (RM10.6bil), Selangor (RM7.4bil), Perak (RM7.1bil) and Sabah (RM6.3bil).
“The question from me is, where does Sarawak stand?
“There is already a great disparity in industrial and economic development between Semenanjung Malaysia and Sarawak.
“If this investment trend continues, the disparity will widen over time instead of what the Prime Minister mentioned ‘ensuring that the regional development is more balanced’.
“Over the past decades, hundreds of thousands of Sarawakians were drawn to Semenanjung, especially the Klang Valley because there were better economic opportunities here.
“I appeal to the government to identify several growth areas in Sarawak to provide better tax incentives and government grants to attract both FDIs and DDIs to Sarawak.”
