By Stephen Puah
KUCHING: The state’s industrialisation policy has yielded good results, and it is making Sarawak very attractive.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said consequently, more and more investors are coming in to invest in the state.
“Therefore, industrialisation is one of the ways forward,” Johari said when officiating at the official ceremony of Iljin Materials Malaysia Sdn Bhd plant at the Sama Jaya High Tech Industrial Park here yesterday.
Johari said the state government would do more to make Sarawak attractive to businesses.
“We have abundant natural resources, abundant renewable energy and a big land mass which we shall tap into to strengthen the economy because only when our economy is strong we can hope to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) that in turn will propel our economic growth,” he said.
Johari said Sama Jaya High Tech Park was a perfect example of the state’s strategy in wooing investors.
He said he was proud of the success of the park which successful implementation was made when he was Industrial Development Minister.
He said the industrial park has continued to flourish and become the operational base of many global players in the technology supply chain, ranging from components in smartphones, computers and automotive to solar panels and modules.
“The presence of these multi-national companies (MNCs) has truly put Sarawak on the world map as a preferred investment destination,” he said, adding that to date the park has generated enormous socio-economic benefits for Sarawak.
He said in 2018, total exports from Sama Jaya High Tech Park had reached RM4.6 billion as compared to RM3.2 billion in 2017 or 43% growth.
Besides that, he said 11,800 job opportunities were being created in Sama Jaya High Tech Park where 98.9% were locals with almost 10% of them engineers.
“I am happy that the multi-national companies here are committed in recruiting Sarawakians and I hope you will continue to give priority to the local workforce and our SMEs so that we can prosper together, and at the same time Sarawakians can also benefit from technology and knowledge transfer,” he said.
He added that cumulative investments by these companies operating in Sama Jaya have exceeded RM12 billion, while the annual salaries paid to the workforce in Sama Jaya High Tech Park alone stood at RM460 million in 2018.
“This has created many multiplier effects to our local economy such as demand for food, housing, transportation, retail, entertainment and other sectors,” he said.
Johari also mentioned that the state’s manufacturing sector must move towards smart manufacturing, employing robotics and automation to remain competitive in this increasingly challenging business environment.
“I understand X-FAB (analogue/mixed-signal semiconductor foundry) and LONGi (solar ingot, wafer, cells and module producer) are embarking on programmes to adopt Industry 4.0 for their operations in Sarawak.
“Soon, Sama Jaya will have the Digital Village and possibly a Data Centre as part of our Digital Economy Initiative.
“As we industrialise, the state needs more skilled and talented workforce. Therefore, we will continue with our efforts to develop human talents to nurture creativity, innovation and technopreneurship to drive the state towards a high income economy through digital economy platforms,” he said.
Johari also assured investors, particularly foreign investors, that the Sarawak government would carry on with its business-friendly policies and create a more conducive environment to attract more high value and high tech investments.
He urged Iljin and all MNCs in Sarawak to continue to prosper and expand their businesses in a win-win situation.
He also urged Sarawakians to work together to ensure that the state would progress and prosper for the benefit of the future generations.
Earlier the Chief Minister said Sarawak was very proud to be associated with Iljin, a world leader in the manufacturing of elecfoil (electrodeposited copper foil), a very thin copper foil to make PCB (printed circuit board).
He said very soon the state would have elecfoil – as used in smartphones such as Samsung and electric vehicles such as BMW, GM, Jaguar, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and Porsche – that are manufactured in Kuching.
He thanked Iljin for choosing Sarawak as its first overseas investment location, saying that this clearly reflected Sarawak’s standing as a preferred investment destination among the many possible locations within Malaysia and the region.
Iljin started piling works on its plant on Jan 14 last year and the RM400-million Phase 1 of the project completed within 12 months will commence its production in the first quarter of 2019.
Iljin Materials Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a South Korean company that manufactures elecfoil in Kuching with foreign investment from its parent company in South Korea.
The company plans to produce 10,000 tonnes of elecfoil at its Kuching’s plant, thus will increase its worldwide production capacity for rechargeable battery-use elecfoil from 15,000 to 25,000 tonnes per year.
