State hopes to attract Hungarian investments
KUCHING: The SarawakHungary Business Forum, held yesterday at a hotel here yesterday, hoped to draw interest from Hungary to explore investment opportunities in Sarawak.
Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment ( MIETI) Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said that while there are some investments from Hungary in manufacturing in Malaysia, there is no recorded investment so far in Sarawak.
He told Hungarian Ambassador to Malaysia Attila Kali that Sarawak’s strength lies in its strategic location in South East Asia.
“Sarawak’s attractiveness as a preferred investment destination is largely due to our political stability, business- friendly policies, as well as our ability to provide modern infrastructure, competitive power and water tariffs, tax and non-tax incentives, as well as a young and skilled workforce that support the growth of industries,” Awang Tengah said during his presentation.
Malaysia is already one of Hungary’s largest trading partners in South East Asia, ranking 41th in 2015, with a trade industry worth RM1.76 billion.
According to Awang Tengah, national exports in machinery, electronic and electrical products and components, food and medical equipment amounted to RM1.76 billion, while another RM589 million came from imports of machinery, parts of aeroplanes and helicopters, electronic and electrical products and components, and minerals.
“Sarawak recorded imports of RM19 million in 2016, mainly in machinery.”
He added that the main areas of cooperation between both Malaysia and Hungary are in innovative technologies and ICT, technology transfer, food industry, water management, education, pharmaceutical industry, and tourism.
“The Sarawak economy has been able to grow between four to five per cent annually over the last few years despite the slowdown in the global economy. Sarawak’s economy is the third largest in Malaysia. Currently, our real GDP is about RM106 billion ( USD24 billion) and our GDP per capita is RM44,012 ( USD10,000).”
Awang Tengah, who is also Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, also briefed the ambassador on the state’s oil and gas industry, hydropower potential, high tech industries and the digital economy, halal industries, timber and oil palm industries, and biodiversity.
“Sarawak has been able to attract talents and capital due to the relatively high quality of life here. The state government has created a conducive environment for business to grow while preserving our beautiful nature,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Kali pointed out that Hungary and Sarawak have many similarities that can be used to their advantage. He provided the latest information on business opportunities, adding that Hungary is keen to share its expertise in the field of water and waste management, ICT, green technology, healthcare, agriculture, food industry and technology transfers in various sectors.
“The majority of our exports go to the European Union ( EU) now but we want to channel more to our partners in Asia as these are the markets where the majority of growth will happen,” he said, adding that his country has the lowest corporate income tax rate in the EU at 9 per cent as of this year.