KUCHING: Innovative and creative thinking is very important as a continuous step to increase productivity and competitiveness in today’s challenging environment, says Datuk Dr Sabariah Putit.
The Deputy State Secretary (Performance and Service Delivery) said this during the launching ceremony of Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) Sarawak’s third annual E-Productivity Day and State-level Civil Service Innovation Month on Monday (Oct 12).
“Every organisation and company needs to continuously improve service efficiency in order to remain relevant, and a systematic approach is needed to produce innovative and creative thinking.
“Improvement is not only in introducing new products or services but to improve existing services to be more efficient with lower costs and provide satisfaction to customers and consumers.”
The programme was one of the initiatives and efforts of the state government and federal agencies to raise awareness about the importance of productivity to be more competitive and innovative.
Meanwhile, Sabariah also mentioned that Sarawak was in the process of formulating and implementing a Digital Economy initiative with a comprehensive plan for 17 areas namely Law and Governance, Government Digital, Digital Data, Cyber Security, Digital Infrastructure, Agriculture, Tourism, Manufacturing, Services and e-Commerce.
“The state government is aware that in the era of the digital world, the importance of innovation culture is very significant to make Sarawak a competitive and inclusive state in terms of the implementation of integrated development initiatives towards the achievement of the digital economy by 2030.”
Not only that, Sabariah pointed out that since June, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had announced the establishment of the State Economic Action Council to facilitate the post-Covid-19 economic recovery strategy until 2030, with an emphasis on digital economy and environmental sustainability.
“Therefore, the state government has reviewed the development strategy under the 12th Malaysia Plan the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study is to enable Sarawak to recognise resilience, adapt to the new normal and catalyse future economic growth and development.”
The council had also identified 10 sectors that would be a priority:
1) Public data centre and innovation — The latest energy;
2) Mining — A new source of income;
3) High level productivity of the commercial and commodity agriculture sectors;
4) High value downstream manufacturing;
5) Rejuvenating Sarawak through the aggressive forestry industry;
6) Tourism Diversity;
7) Quality social services for the people;
8) Renewable energy — future supply;
9) Coordination of the future of education and human resources; and
10) Basic Infrastructure Development.
