KUCHING: Sarawak’s ample resources position it to achieve green energy, environmental sustainability, and economic prosperity by 2030.
In stating this, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state is already prioritising initiatives such as carbon trading, carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), microalgae cultivation, and methanol production on its own.
“With this, surely the income of the state will increase again, but what Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is concerned about now is the redistribution of wealth to the people.
“And we have the financial instrument for us to create and distribute the wealth of Sarawak to our people,” he said when officiating at the 15th Redeems Gawai Carnival at Redeems Centre, Singai, last night (July 9).
Abang Johari, who is also the Finance and New Economy Minister, said Sarawak is very fortunate that people from outside of the state are monitoring its economic development and how it has managed to restructure its economy for the past six years, which led to an increase in our income.
“Last year, our income exceeded RM10 billion, actually RM11.9 billion or nearly RM12 billion; it is a historical record for Sarawak.
“And I didn’t know that people who are experts in monitoring our economic performance give us the rating not only in terms of our financial position (3A), but I didn’t know the World Bank is also looking at us. And two days ago, they (the World Bank) stated that Sarawak is now a high-income state.
“Actually, our target was 2030, and based on international standards, we are now a high-income state; quite an achievement,” he said.
He added that based on Gross National Income (GNI), they have calculated and shown that the state’s GNI per capita is above that standard, therefore making it a high-income state.
“What I want to clarify is that there is a difference in GNI per capita and household income per capita. Against that economic structure, GNI is actually an economic statistical indicator that our performance is on the right track.
“Therefore, with this extra income, we have to redistribute the wealth to the people in general. Otherwise, there will be disparity; the country has a substantial income, but the household income is still small.
“In this particular scenario, what you do is this: when you have the income, you redistribute it to your target group. For Sarawak, we have our Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS 2030), and this is planned based on the three pillars of economic prosperity, social inclusivity, and environmental sustainability,” he said.
To sustain the economy as well as the environment, he said, there are financial instruments to redistribute this income to the people at large.
“In order to get an increase in household income, we use our money to develop our basic infrastructure; that is why we go and develop our digital infrastructure, connectivity, and road infrastructure, including coastal roads, and we have the federal government helping us.
“We also have to improve our water supply as well as our power supply; this is the basic infrastructure,” he said.
Furthermore, he stressed the importance of enhancing human resources and implementing precision farming in the agriculture sector.
“The world wants green products through green processes, and we are very fortunate because we are using green energy from renewable resources, and therefore the world will accept our product.
“Based on environmental social governance (ESG), the bank may not support you if your process is not based on green energy.
“That is the economic scenario that we are in, and the GPS government already has a clear direction for the state,” said Abang Johari.
Also present was Redeems president Datuk Peter Nansian.
