KUCHING: The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) has approved 1,120 manufacturing projects with investments worth RM137.3 billion in Sarawak as at Sept last year.
These projects have created over 175,000 job opportunities, mainly in the natural gas, chemical and chemical products, basic metal products, petroleum products (including Petrochemicals) and electronics and electrical products sectors.
Being the largest of all 13 states in Malaysia, there were certainly many reasons for companies to base their operations in Sarawak, MIDA Strategic Planning and Development senior executive director Zabidi Mahbar disclosed yesterday.
He was speaking at the Seventh briefing of Mida’s “Invest Series: Unfolding States Potential” organised in collaboration with the state agencies of Malaysia at Perdana Hall, Level 10, Mida headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Zabidi said there was a strong presence of MNCs and Large Local Corporations (LLCs) in Sarawak, adding these companies, such as Petronas, OCIM, Longi, X-Fab and Press Metal held much promise for business collaborations and opportunities.
The Invest Series has also been featured in Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and Sabah since early last year.
Zabidi said: “We continue the momentum today (yesterday) by highlighting the competitive and comparative advantages of Sarawak.”
He said as most was aware, the National Policy on Industry 4.0 or Industry4WRD had been launched by the Prime Minister at Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) in October last year.
As part of the latest initiative under Industry4WRD, Miti has established a national Readiness Assessment Programme, he added.
He said the comprehensive programme would help firms to assess their capabilities and readiness in order to guide their adoption of Industrial 4.0 technologies.
By determining the state of readiness, companies will also be able to identify gaps and areas of improvement for Industry 4.0 adoption as well as to develop feasible strategies to take their operations to the next level.
Under this programme, 500 SMEs involved in the manufacturing sector and manufacturing-related services would be selected for a free assessment of their IR 4.0 readiness.
Zabidi urged companies present at the briefing to take advantage of this programme, adding more updates would be released by Miti from time to time.
On another development, he said Mida had introduced several new initiatives last year to further develop opportunities for domestic companies. “One of them is the set-up of a dedicated team called the Investment Coordination Platform (ICP) to facilitate companies to grow their businesses and investment portfolio.
“This unit works closely with equity and corporate advisory firms as well as local regulators and technology providers in assisting companies to conduct business-to-business matching, capital raising exercise through debt and equity, M&A, divestment and initial public listing or IPO.”
Zabidi advised interested parties to come forward to find out more on how Mida could facilitate them in these areas.
He disclosed that another initiative is the introduction of Mida’s i-Services Portal which was launched by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking at last year’s National Investment Seminar.
This portal is a single market place to link investors and companies interested to source for domestic services from local service providers.
He encouraged local service providers to register their businesses in the portal as this is an effective, cost-efficient medium to showcase their capabilities and expertise.
“This gateway will also help companies to expand their markets and further boost business activities,” he added.
Going forward, Zabidi said Mida would continue to undertake engagements such as yesterday to ensure the country achieves its goals and aspirations, creating wealth that translates to tangible benefits felt by all Malaysians.
“Together with Miti and its agencies, Mida would continue to work closely with the state government and authorities to create a more conducive business environment for businesses to grow,” he said.
Zabidi also encouraged companies present at the briefing to visit Mied Sarawak’s information booth at the Banquet Hall for potential joint venture and investment plans.
Also present, who later shared an insight on the latest development and investment opportunities in Sarawak was Sarawak Industrial and Entrepreneur Development Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Liaw Soon Eng.
