Sarawak lucky to have leader aware of importance of digital economy – Fadillah
KUCHING: Sarawak is fortunate to have a leader who is aware of the importance of the digital economy and committed to developing it.
In stating this, Minister of Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg knows what the digital economy is all about and has undertaken several initiatives to ensure the state is not left behind in the modern trend.
He said Abang Johoari knows that in developing digital economy, there is a need to improve communication and broadband infrastructure to ensure the people, especially rural entrepreneurs, also get to enjoy the more sophisticated internet facilities in the future.
“The state government through the Sarawak State Budget 2018 had allocated RM1 billion to develop the digital economy as well as outlining the digitised economy as the key economic transformation of Sarawak.
“This is because the Chief Minister wants to see Sarawak rise as a powerhouse in digital economy and be on par with European countries,” he said at the closing of a talk on business transformation through digital platform organised by Malaysian Cooperatives College here yesterday.
Fadillah noted that Abang Johori had even devised plans and strategies to achieve the dream of transforming Sarawak into a digital economy.
He believed with the allocation of RM1 billion, plus another RM1 billion from the federal government for Sarawak and Sabah, the state government would ensure broadband speed throughout Sarawak of at least two terabits per second (tbps).
Fadillah pointed out that digital economy has been identified as one of the engines of growth that can strengthen the country’s economy.
He said according to statistics from the Digital Economy Corporation of Malaysia ( MDEC), in 2016 digital economy contributed 18.2 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product ( GDP), and this percentage is expected to be more than 20 per cent before 2020.