Sarawak faces five-year transition towards technology creation
Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg says new policies must strengthen competitiveness and benefit both urban and rural areas.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has identified the next five years as a key period for the state to move towards a high-value economy centred on creating technology rather than assembly work.
Speaking in Kuching at the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Backbenchers Night, he said Sarawak needed different policies and approaches to improve its economic competitiveness. Those policies must produce results for rural communities as well as urban areas, he said.
Abang Johari linked the proposed shift to broader changes in the structure of Sarawak’s economy, saying these were necessary to move the state out of the middle-income trap.
He said groundwork over the past five years had included a focus on the digital economy, improvements to state finances and consolidation of strategic assets owned by the state. These measures, alongside new economic management approaches, had established a foundation for development initiatives and the intended economic transformation, he said.
