Before the next state elections scheduled for 2026, Mr. Abang Johari wants Sarawak to contribute the second-highest to Malaysia’s gross domestic product ( GDP ).
Sarawak accounted for 9.1 % of the GDP in 2023, compared to Selangor ( 25.7 % ), Kuala Lumpur ( 15.9 % ), and Johor ( 9.5 % ), according to data from the Statistics Department of Malaysia ( 29.9 % ).
Sarawak is attempting to follow nations that have made significant investments in equipment in order to promote economic growth, the Premier said.
” What Sarawak is doing now is to improve our system, because we’ve got the strength, including power, and we build our inner home connectivity”, he said, adding that the condition is working with investors to construct its economy.
” We are getting funding in Sarawak, and the advantages may be shared with the owners as well as the Sarawak state or, for that matter, Sarawak as a whole,” the statement read.
However, Mr. Abang Johari argued that Sarawak’s rapid growth and towering ambitions should not be taken as a declaration of independence, dismissing calls for the state to leave Malaysia by some Sarawak activists.
These campaigners are frustrated by what they perceive as the federal government’s ongoing failure to restore Sarawak’s right under the Malaysia Agreement of 1963, which was the legal foundation for Malaysia’s founding with Sarawak and Sabah acting as equal partners with Malaya.
The federal government acknowledged, of course, how the state operated and how things went ahead. It does n’t mean that there is an urge for us  ,- some ( have this ) perception- ( to go ) on our own”, Mr Abang Johari said.
Independent TERTIARY EDUCATION
Sarawak is beginning to make its own in the form of a free training program for Sarawkians at its five state-owned institutions.
These are the Curtin University Malaysia Sarawak Campus, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, University Technology Sarawak, Centre of Technology Excellence Sarawak, and i-CATS University College.
Local advertising had recently reported that the proposed scheme, which is anticipated to cost the government up to RM625 million, will gain about 25, 000 pupils in Sarawak’s state-owned institutions and higher-learning organizations.
The Sarawak state, nevertheless, has said that the free training will only apply to selected science and specialized fields, in line with the country’s development programs and to optimise sources.
Opposition Sarawak assembly Chong Chieng Jen, from the Democratic Action Party, questioned these instances, calling it a “lame reason”.
Is there a hidden issue with the Sarawak government’s financial condition that prevents it from funding the bank? In a statement from the August 29 Dayak Daily, he was quoted as saying.
CNA has contacted Sarawak’s Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent for more information about the programs that will be completely subventioned and the number of individuals who will gain.