KUCHING, Oct 9 — Sarawak’s economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent this year against the 3.2 per cent last year, its Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said today.
He said the positive growth will be mainly driven by the expansion in the private sector expenditure and exports while services and manufacturing sector will continue be the key drivers of growth.
Abang Johari, who is also the state finance and economic planning minister, said Sarawak’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has expanded from RM119.1 billion in 2015 to RM121.4 billion last year while the GDP per capita has jumped from RM44,100 to RM44,300 for the same period.
“The number of employed has increased from one million in 2015 to 1.2 million last year,” he said in his speech at the opening of 4th Sarawak Business and Investment Summit organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute here.
He said the number of job vacancies created in 2016 was 50,000 and the incidence of poverty has been reduced from 2.4 per cent in 2012 to 0.9 per cent in 2014.
His speech was read by his deputy Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, who is also the state industrial and entrepreneur development minister.
The chief minister said in the first nine months of this year, the state has received investment proposals totalling RM8.4 billion, excluding the proposed RM13 billion steel and RM9 billion methanol projects in Bintulu.
“These are encouraging signs and we are confident that more investors will come to Sarawak, particularly for energy extensive industries,” he added.
Abang Johari said Sarawak ranked among the top four investment destinations in Malaysia in the last nine years.
“In the last two years, Sarawak was second in 2015 and third last year. An achievement is not by chance, but the result of our strong leadership, good planning and implementation by the state government,” Abang Johari said.
