Stronger voice in Parliament?
KUCHING: If Sarawakians, the business community in particular, want a bigger voice in Parliament, there is a simple solution – give full backing to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the 15th general election (GE15).
The appeal came from Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan who said a strong GPS presence in Parliament would give Sarawak a bigger bargaining power to negotiate and protect the state rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
At the same time, he also expressed his gratitude to the business community and the people for their strong support in the recent state election, where GPS won 76 out of 82 seats contested.
“This is a very clear manifestation and confidence of the people of Sarawak in the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“With a resounding mandate, the GPS government will continue to move forward with the development of Sarawak to achieve a high-income economy where economic prosperity, social inclusivity and environmental sustainability are enjoyed by all,” he said during the Sarawak State Entrepreneur of the Year Award (EOYS) 2021 ceremony at a hotel here on Monday (Jan 24).
On another note, he said that the government valued the contribution of the business community where the majority of the entrepreneurs were SMEs.
“The federal and state governments understand and empathise with the people on their hardships during this challenging time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Numerous initiatives and strategies have been implemented to ensure the welfare of the people and the business communities are being taken care of.
“I hope the various COVID-19 financial assistances totalling RM284.5 billion provided by the federal government and RM5.6 billion under the Sarawak Government’s Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 1.0 to 8.0 have benefited the people and the business community during this challenging time,” he said.
Awang Tengah said that despite the on-going pandemic, Sarawak was still able to attract RM15.7 billion in investment in the manufacturing sector in 2020, which was the one of the highest in Malaysia.
“Even during this challenging time, four existing multinational corporations in Sama Jaya continue to expand their business operations valued at RM6.3 billion, while another multinational corporation in Samalaju invested an additional RM1.3 billion for its business expansion,” he said.
“Their decisions to continue expanding their businesses in Sarawak, especially during this pandemic, clearly reflect their strong confidence in the state leadership, in the way we manage the pandemic and the way we manage the economy,” he said.
He said the state would continue to engage with potential foreign investors through video conferencing for large-scale green hydrogen fuel production, petrochemicals, chemicals and energy intensive industries, from Australia, China and South Korea.
