KUCHING: The State Budget to be tabled during the State Legislative Assembly on November 5, 2018 will be the biggest budget for Sarawak, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“It will be a record budget that will be a testament to our commitment to fulfil the aspirations of our people to have more roads and bridges to increase connectivity and coverage of treated water supply and electricity,” he said in his keynote address during the International Conference on Sarawak & ASEAN ‘Growing Together for Common Prosperity & Regional Wellbeing’ at Hilton Hotels here yesterday.
He added that there were bountiful opportunities in the state with evident improvements over the years.
“The state has experienced a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.7 per cent in 2017, more than double the growth rate of 2.3 per cent in the previous year which makes Sarawak the third biggest economy, behind Kuala Lumpur and Selangor that contribute to 9.7 per cent of Malaysia’s national GDP.
“In 2017, the GDP per capita was RM49,327, an increase from RM44,000 in 2016. With this progress, Sarawak is on track to achieving its 2020 GDP growth target of 4.7 per cent according to the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance (MIDF) Research,” he said adding that Sarawak also had the lowest rate of inflation at 3 per cent and unemployment rate of 3 per cent, an improvement from 3.3 per cent in 2016 and the poverty rate has fallen from 0.9 per cent in 2014 to 0.6 per cent in 2017.
Abang Johari also said that the population was estimated at 2.79 million whereby 42 per cent were youths.
“This presents a promising long-term prospects in terms of its human capital talents,” he said adding that Sarawak has a labour force of 1.29 million workers.
Meanwhile, the state’s revenue has steadily shown improvements with RM6.86 billion in 2017 compared to RM5.91 billion in 2016 while exports grew from RM77 billion in 2016 to RM96 billion in 2017.
“The progress is a testament to the strong foundations laid in our economy and governance. However, there are much more which can and needs to be done,”said Abang Johari. The conference themed, ‘Growing Together for Common Prosperity & Regional Wellbeing’ was jointly organised by KASI Institute and MRS Management.
It discussed the business and investment opportunities in Sarawak in the new era of new Malaysia, post GE14. It also evaluated the key issues and strategic challenges faced by the state and new growth drivers.
The conference also examined the Federal-State relations with Pakatan Harapan government at the federal level and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) at the state level.
It was attended by participants from both the federal and state government, business community from various industries, academia, civil society and all who seek to develop Sarawak into a leading player, not just within Malaysia, but also on the global stage.
• See excerpts from CM’s keynote address on our Newspaper Page 4
