The State government aims to provide better infrastructure to enhance the manufacturing sector’s environment.
Industrial and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan
The move was to attract more investments to Sarawak.
“We want our Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) to prosper,” he said in his winding-up speech yesterday.
Tengah said SMEs had continued to be the key driver for Malaysia’s economic growth as it constituted 98.5 percent of the country’s total business establishments.
“Our SMEs have registered a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8 percent over the last five years against the National CAGR of 7.3 per cent,” Tengah opined.
He said in the recent Federal Budget 2019, the federal government provided substantial allocation for entrepreneur development under the initiative ‘Memupuk Budaya Negara Usahawan’ in all economic sectors.
“At this point, we do not know how much would be allocated to Sarawak and what are the programmes,” he said.
He called on the federal government to provide the state with the breakdown of the allocation and programmes for Sarawak.
According to Tengah, under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP), a total of RM361.7mil has been approved for 25 projects which include six “Anjung Usahawan” projects.
Five projects namely Biovalley Park; Sama Jaya Phase V; Demak Laut Industrial Park Phase 2B Stage 1; Access Road at Demak Laut Industrial Park; and Tebedu Industrial Park had been completed.
Currently, three industrial parks under construction are progressing well and scheduled for completion this year. These are Demak Laut Industrial Park-Phase 2B Stage 2, Kapit Industrial Park and Marudi Industrial Park.
In addition, the upgrading works for Rantau Panjang Industrial Park Phase 1, Sibu is also on scheduled for completion by year end.
“Physical works for industrial parks at Betong, Demak Laut Phase 2B Stage 2 (continuation) and Samalaju SME Clusters have commenced in October 2018 while retender for Sri Aman Industrial Park is under evaluation,” he said.
Tengah also mentioned the approved sites for industrial parks in Bau, Sematan and Rantau Panjang Phase 2, Sibu.
“The approved sites are in the process of land acquisition and these expected to be completed by middle of 2019,” he said.
As for Sebuyau Industrial Park, Tengah said, the project was delayed due to land dispute.
“My ministry is working closely with the Land and Survey Department to resolve the issue,” he said.
Under the “Anjung Usahawan” project, Tengah disclosed that the state government had developed seven and these involved RM12.5mil fund from Teraju.
“The construction of ‘Anjung Usahawan’ for Betong, Damai, Gedong, Semariang, Limbang and Lawas have been completed, while Sri Aman ‘Anjung Usahawan’ is expected for completion by the end of this year,” Tengah pointed out.
The project, once completed could accommodate a total of 74 business premises.
Awang Tengah said his ministry would build larger ‘Anjung Usahawan’ in other divisions and cities in stages.
For next year, his ministry had been allocated by RM14.5mil by the state government to build six ‘Anjung Usahawan’” he added.
