Sarawak’s digital economy agenda

SMA general manager Dr Zaidi Razak highlighted that the state government embarked on the digital economy initiative prior to the pandemic and this proved to be crucial when COVID-19 hit.

“There has been a high participation from Sarawakians in online businesses aCer the Premier introduced digital economy before the pandemic.”

He said it is the state government’s aspiration to see all Sarawakians, regardless where they live, have equal access to good quality telecommunication services.

SMA has been tasked to monitor telecommunication providers in implementing the initiatives aimed at bridging the digital gap between rural and urban areas.

Dr Zaidi said digital transformation is crucial as it would create huge job opportunities and social well-being, particularly in high skilled and semi-skilled jobs, and access to the internet.

Through digital transformation, the Sarawak Government will be able to provide more efficient, improved, and secure online services to businesses and the people.

Dr Zaidi said there was a strong need for Sarawak to address its digital readiness to maximise digital values, otherwise it would not get the chance to capitalise on the benefits of the global digitalisation, which has a huge population of over eight billion people.

However, he said in order for Sarawak to have good telecommunication services, it would take some time for the government to implement the various telecommunication infrastructures.