KUCHING: 12 different agencies and organisations were recognised during the state-level Appreciation Night of the Royal Malaysian Customs (PERKASA) held at Pullman Hotel here on Monday. The 2017 Highest Import Duty Contributor award went to the Association of Malay Importers and Traders of Motor Vehicles (PEKEMA) while the 2017 Best Logistical Hub for Import and Export was Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd.
The Highes t Tour i sm Tax Contributor for this year was Imperial Hotel Miri while the awards for the Highest GST Contributor for Informat ion Technology (IT) and for Construction went to BY Technologies Sdn Bhd and Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd respectively.
The awards for the Highest GST Contributor for Plantation, Engineering Construction and Agr icul ture went to Golden Palm Harvest Sdn Bhd, Murum Hydropower Generation Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Land Consolidation Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA) respectively.
Miri City Council was recognised as the Highest GST Contributor for City Hall while Harbour-Link Marine Services Sdn Bhd was honoured as the Highest GST Contr ibutor for Shipping. Honoured as the Highest GST Contributor for Utility was Syarikat SESCO Berhad. Gracing the award presentation ceremony in place of the Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg was the Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce, Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.
In his speech read by Wong, Johari said at the recent State Legislative (DUN) sitting, the state government had passed the Sarawak Multimedia Authority Ordinance to provide a regulatory framework for activities of the digital economy.
“As part of our digital transformation, we will roll out our Big Data by April next year which will allow information to be shared by the public and private sectors. “I am confident that the sharing of data will help to enhance our economy as we have seen this happening in other countries like Estonia and Finland. “Our Agriculture Transformation Programme will also see an increase in food production.
We want to export to the large Asian, China and India markets via the digital platforms.
“We have recently launched our digital payment platform “Sarawak Pay” that allows an e-wallet balance of RM3,000 at any one time.
We hope it will be linked in the near future to similar modes of e-payment such as Alipay of Alibaba and Singapore Pay in Singapore to facilitate trade and economic activities,” added Johari.
