COMMENTARY: TWO THIRD MAJORITY WIN FOR BN MEANS STABILITY & CONTINUITY FOR BUSINESS COMMUNITY

BY YONG SOO HEONG

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Bernama) -- With the two-thirds majority win by ruing coalition Barisan Nasional (National Front - BN) in the 2011 Sarawak state election, it has meant stability and continuity for the business community as well as other sectors in the state for the next five years.

It also means that the government can push ahead with its economic
development programmes for the benefit of the people, especially with
initiatives under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) that will bring about more business and job opportunities.

Under SCORE, towns uch as Tanjung Manis, Mukah, Samalaju, Baram and Tunoh have been selected as the five new growth nodes in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak.

The Mukah Node will be developed into a Smart City, and will serve as the nerve centre for SCORE, while the Tanjung Manis Node will be developed into an Industrial Port City and Halal Hub.

At the same time, the Samalaju Node will become the new Heavy Industry Centre, whereas Baram and Tunoh will focus on tourism and resource-based industries.

The synergy between these five new growth nodes will drive the development and growth of Sarawak's central region as well as the state as a whole.

As for SCORE's secondary growth centres, areas such as Semop, Balingian, Selangau, Samarakan, Bakun and Ng Merit near Kapit will also stand to benefit from the development of the new growth nodes.

Over the past few months, Sarawak has been attracting a lot of attention from investors.

As of January 2011, two projects with investments amounting to RM187.7 million have been approved, including basic metal products as well as the wood products industries.

Some top industries that have been identified as potential investments in Sarawak are glass, steel, palm oil, fishing and aquaculture, livestock, tourism, marine engineering, timber-based, aluminium and the oil-based industry.

According to business consultancy Oxford Business Group, Sarawak, being the largest state in Malaysia, has substantial amounts of land available for development as well as plentiful natural resources like natural gas and petroleum.

"But the government sees even more potential for investment in the state outside of these traditional areas," it added.

In 2010, Sarawak attracted RM3.9 billion in both foreign and domestic direct investments, placing it fourth in the country.

Between 2006 and 2010, Sarawak has continuously ranked among Malaysia's country's top five states in terms of investment, attracting a total of RM29.4 billion during the period.

In 2010, 43 projects were approved in the state, with private investments totalling RM3.95 billion, of which RM3.55 billion or 90.1 per cent was foreign direct investments (FDIs) and RM400m or 9.9 per cent, direct domestic investments (DDIs). These projects are expected to create a total of 7,083 job opportunities.

As far as FDIs in 2010 were concerned, they were drawn to basic metal products (RM2.5 billion), electronic and electrical products (RM726 million) petroleum products (RM274.3 million), machinery manufacturing (RM9.5 million) and transportation equipment (RM7.1 million).

At the same time, DDIs were focused on transportation equipment (RM94.5 million), food manufacturing (RM80.9 million, chemicals and chemical products (RM76.7 millon), wood and wood products (RM55.1 million) and petroleum products (RM44.7 million).

Sarawak is also becoming a centre for the high-tech industry. Its Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone, just outside of Kuching, has attracted several technology companies manufacturing operations, with processes ranging from circuit semiconductor design to a silicon wafer foundry.

Oxford Business Group also reckons that steps are being taken to promote solar power-related industries, among others, at the park.

This park was specifically designed to house energy-intensive industries that will draw their power supply from the 2400-MW Bakun hydroelectric dam in the upper Rajang Basin in central Sarawak. The Bakun Dam is expected to produce its first 300 MW within two months or so.

The 8,000-ha park aims to attract both FDIs and DDIs. To date, 10 companies have been approved for investment at Samalaju, with RM6.6 billion of investment to go to the production of polysilicon, which will support the development of Sarawak's solar industry sector.

As Sarawakians look ahead into the future, they should be able to score with so much business activity and job opportunities in store for them.