KUCHING: The proposed Develop-ment Bank of Sarawak (DBoS) will be set up properly and run professionally.
It will play a leading role in the development of Sarawak now and for many fruitful years to come.
This was stated by Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg in his winding-up speech during the State Legislative Assembly sitting here yesterday.
“I shall ensure that the people running the DBoS are professionals and banking experts and I shall solicit the assistance of the Central Bank to help us to ascertain that the proposed candidates are also people with credibility and integrity.
“It shall be wholly-owned by the state government and it will be structured in such a way as to limit the liability of the state government from risks in the operations.
“It shall be funded principally through deposits of the state government and its agencies as well as through the deposits of big companies through the money market but not the deposits of the general public in the primary money market.
“ DBoS shall also be in a position to lead the development of the financial market in Sarawak by encouraging more lending and borrowing in order to stimulate economic activities among the private sector in the state.
“In this connection, DBoS shall also encourage the funding of strategic projects in Sarawak by financial institutions with regional offices in Sarawak,” he said.
At the same time, Johari also assured that DBoS would complement but not compete with the local bank branches so that its resources could be used to leverage more strategic projects as well as to spread the risks of its lending activities.
“In fact, the establishment of DBoS shall provide good jobs within the bank as well as in the economy, especially in the area of cybersecurity, risk management of capital and other assets, management and governance and integrity.
“DBoS can encourage also investments and ownership by Sarawakians of strategic assets in Sarawak by development investment funds which can be subscribed by Sarawakians in the form of bonds and investment funds,” he added.
