Seeking higher input from services, manufacturing sectors
KUCHING: Sarawak will shift its economic structure with higher contributions from the services and manufacturing sectors by 2030 through quality investment, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg yesterday.
According to him, the services sector’s contribution to Sarawak’s gross domestic product (GDP) will increase from 34.7 per cent last year to 38.9 per cent in 2030 while the manufacturing sector’s contribution will increase from 26.8 per cent last year to 29 per cent in 2030.
“At the same time, Sarawak will continue to develop and modernise the primary sector to increase productivity to support the high value manufacturing activities such as oleochemical, food processing, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, hydrogen and metal-based products.
“This will complement the growth in the services sector such as transport and logistic, financial and legal services as well as design and creative services,” he said when launching the Sarawak Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 in conjunction with Sarawak Day 2021.
A book on the Sarawak PCDS 2030 was also unveiled in connection with the launch.
Abang Johari said through these initiatives, an additional 200,000 high-paying jobs will be generated making the total employment of 1.5 million by 2030.
He said this will increase income and standards of living and opportunities for Sarawakian youths to secure high income jobs with pathways for their career advancement.
“The education and human capital development initiatives namely skills development training will ensure that our people are equipped with the right skills to grab the jobs created to increase their income.
“As such, the monthly median household income is projected to increase from RM4,544 in 2019 to RM15,047 in 2030,” he pointed out.
Abang Johari said social inclusivity will be enhanced by narrowing urban and rural development gap with greater urban rural economic integration, capacity building and community participation for sustainable development.
Greater urban rural economic integration will be achieved with robust infrastructure development such as road accessibility, digital connectivity that provide greater access to capital and investment facilities for commercial economic activities for domestic and export markets, he said.
The Chief Minister asserted that capacity building for the community will be supported by human capital development programmes and projects such as education and health services, skills and training programmes as well as business, entrepreneurship and talent development initiatives.
“With greater access to market and capital coupled with capacity building programmes, the community will participate actively in commercial agriculture, tourism, mining, forestry, renewable energy, manufacturing, services and ecommerce activities.
“Sustainable development will be achieved with the combination of all these initiatives where the community will have sustainable income generation that will improve their standard of living as a result of efficient resources management,” he said.
He said Sarawak’s environmental sustainability will be further enhanced through the development of Sarawak Sustainable Environment Blueprint.
The Blueprint will cover both the green and blue economy initiatives.
“Green Economy covers all economic activities on land. The state will develop Green House Gases (GHG) inventory for all economic sectors and cities to identify the major contributors to GHG emissions in order to formulate Green Economy initiatives.
“Blue Economy covers all economic activities in ocean and coastal areas. The state will develop Blue Economy Index to provide input and indicators for the formulation of the initiatives,” he explained.
Abang Johari said the Green and Blue Economy initiatives will provide a comprehensive and holistic Sarawak Sustainable Environment Blueprint covering amongst others, climate action, forestry, financing, water and land use, green cities and mobility, resilient infrastructure, sustainable energy, circular economy and integrated watershed management.
“The Blueprint, which will map out our strategies to build a sustainable, resource-efficient and climate-resilient state, is to be enforced and implemented by the enforcement agencies through intensified data collection and digitalisation,” he added.
Among those present were Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Sarawak State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion.