Sarawakians Brace For A Better Year For State’s Economy
(Bernama) — When tabling the 2008 State Budget here on Nov 19, Chief Minister Abdul Taib said the federal government had allocated RM4 billion for the implementation of development projects, including the proposed Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy (SCORE).
The Sarawak economic corridor, one of the initiatives in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) to accelerate economic growth and reduce development disparity between rural and urban areas, is expected to be managed by the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) in three phases up to 2030.
The state's central region, its comparative advantages of large tracts of undeveloped land, huge renewable hydroelectric energy potential and coal reserves, has been identified for the 320-kilometre corridor from Tanjung Manis in Mukah to Similajau in Bintulu.
The high impact economic project will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Bintulu soon once the masterplan study is completed and the budgetary scope as well as allocation is finetuned by the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department.
Taib, who is also Sarawak Finance Minister, had said the corridor will only accept investments that use vast amounts of electricity in order to create demand for the Bakun dam.
The adjacent regions will benefit from the spillover effect of the development of energy-intensive industries, including palm-oil, timber-based and marine engineering.
"To realise this, it requires substantial amount of investments by both the public and private sectors. As we approach the mid-term 9MP review, the government agencies that are involved should take this opportunity to review and realign their programmes to the Recoda masterplan," Taib said.
With the location of the US2 billion (RM7 billion) proposed aluminium smelter, a joint venture between local conglomerate CMS and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto in Similajau the area is expected to become the new heavy industry centre with a modern deepsea port.
On the southern end, resource-based industries, including timber, wood, palm oil, fisheries, food-processing and ship-building would be expanded in Tanjung Manis, which is envisaged as the industrial port city, while Mukah sited at the heart of the Sarawak corridor will become the service hub and centre.
Overall, resource-rich Sarawak is projected to have a surplus budget of RM61 million next year and an estimated total revenue of RM3,550 million against a total ordinary expenditure amounting to RM3,489 million.
The oil and gas sector is expected to continue contributing substantially to the state's coffer with RM1,326 million or 37 percent, followed by expected revenue from returns on investments and interest income (RM894 million or 25 percent), forestry (RM641 million or 18 percent) and sales tax (RM194 million or five percent).
Much focus is also being given to raise Sarawak's profile as a destination for international events by tapping on the lucrative meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market potential.
The CMS-owned but State-named Convention Centre here is expected to be completed in 2009.
