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Sarawak to emulate others

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Abang Johari speaks at the dialogue.

By Natasha Jee & Voon Yih Boon

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the development of cities in Sarawak should follow the ones in countries such as Australia.

“This is because the state has an advantage that is having a vast land and the idea is to create an organic city.

“Therefore, I think our city development must be similar to Australia rather than Hong Kong and Singapore,” he said.

He was speaking at ‘A Sunday Morning with CM: Dialogue Session with Young Entrepreneurs in Sarawak’ at Pullman Hotel on Sunday (Sept 27).

He said in certain cities, there were buildings in one particular area, and the traffic problems arise.

“While we develop the cities, there is also a need to have a master traffic system plan.

“That is why I go for the Autonomous Rail Transit (ART) system. Some people were not happy about it. But that is the future of public transport,” he said.

In the meantime, on the topic of agriculture, Abang Johari said to achieve sustainability, the state needs to switch from traditional ways to using modern technology.

“Food security is crucial, so we have to diversify our economy for the future. We have to relook at our agricultural sector where we have to apply technology,” he said.

He said as the population in Asia is more than three billion, there will be great demand for food which cannot be sold at high prices because they will the affect the demand.

“So the demand must match the affordability, and to fix it to a particular price, the process must be efficient, the yields must be high and that is where technology comes in.

“For Sarawak, we are going towards that (direction). But give me time as it cannot be immediate, because first the infrastructure must be there and secondly, the mindset of our farmers must be correct,” he said.

He said farmers need to be prepared to be entrepreneurs and not just farmers (growing crops).

“An entrepreneur is the person who applies technology in order to create value in agriculture. That is what we want, and it takes time to adopt this new approach,” he said.

He said the importance of using and applying technology to agriculture is not only confined to crop production but also to the way of doing business where digital payment takes place.

“This is why I formed Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), so that there is digital infrastructure and the Internet of Things (IoT) can be applied to agriculture,” said Abang Johari.

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