KUCHING: Sarawak is negotiating with investors from Western Australia to invest in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the state hopes to attract more investments from Australia as investments from the continent are minimal.
“The total trade between Sarawak and Australia in 2020 was RM3.4 billion (AU$1.1 billion). The value of our exports to Australia was RM1.5 billion (AU$0.5 billion), mainly from crude petroleum, plywood and urea.
“We also delivered several small and medium vessels to Tasmania Port Authority and the mining industries in Australia.
“The value of our import from Australia was RM1.8billion (AU$0.6 billion), mainly for aluminium ores and concentrate,” he said in his welcoming address during the Business Matching Webinar 2022: Trade and Investment Opportunities in Sarawak yesterday (Feb 28).
Moving forward, he said the state would adopt Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 and innovate using data to increase productivity, develop high value products, improve safety and environmental conservation.
“In the manufacturing sector, we are promoting high-value downstream activities for both resource and non-resource-based industries.
“For the agriculture sector, we would like to attract global partnerships to develop technology-driven commercial activities for international markets for our fresh produce as well as processed products.
“This is one of the areas where we can collaborate. Australia is very strong in this field such as precision farming,” said Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister of International Trade, Industry and Investment.
He added that the state was also promoting Sarawak as a tourism destination for leisure, medical and business groups; the forestry sector for its sustainable management and conservation efforts; promoting more downstream industries for oil and gas, silica sand and rare earth elements for high value-added products; and the services sector such as education, housing and healthcare for better quality of life.
“We are expanding our basic infrastructure development such as the Pan Borneo Highway, Coastal Highway; improving our air and sea connectivity; upgrade several of our airports as well as developing a new deep-sea port in Kuching; and will continuously upgrade our utilities to provide clean water and electricity supply to fuel the economic activities in the state,” he said.
Awang Tengah also said that the state was developing renewable energy to allow economic activities to be performed in a sustainable manner and further enhance investors’ confidence in Sarawak and currently the state power generation mix was 70 per cent from hydro and 3 per cent from fossil fuels.
“Thus, I am happy to invite interested companies from Western Australia to collaborate with our private sector to unlock these opportunities.
“I believe you have the necessary technology and resources to help us to transform and accelerate our economic growth.
“I’m sure there will be great potential for collaborations between Sarawak and Australia in research and development (R&D),” he said.
Also present were Ministry of International Trade, Industry and Investment special advisor Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais and acting permanent secretary Dzulkornain Masron.
