KUALA TERENGGANU, July 2 — The Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, has urged the state government to make the Terengganu Petroleum Council the platform to address oil royalty-related issues.

He also expressed hope that the council would play a role in the Bertam oilfield claims and increasing the employment opportunities in the oil and gas sector in the state.

The sultan said this at the opening of the first session of the 14th State Legislative Assembly here today.

He also suggested to the newly-formed state government to plan and implement various programmes to improve the socio-economy of the people and prosperity of the state.

Sultan Mizan also hoped that the new state government would improve the administration to achieve the objective to become the developed and high-income state in line with the ‘Terengganu Maju, Berkat and Sejahtera’ slogan.

“I hope that the state’s revenue for 2018 estimated at RM1.815 billion can be achieved and well-managed through the budget planning that has a positive impact on the state and the people,” he said.

Also present were the Sultanah of Terenggannu Sultanah Nur Zahirah and the Yang Dipertuan Muda Tengku Muhammad Ismail.

Sultan Mizan said the state government should find ways to reduce dependence on royalty because of the uncertainty of world crude oil prices since 2016 which had decreased the state income by up to 40 per cent annually.

“I hope the State Revenue Committee will take aggressive and innovative measures to increase the state revenue collection. The state government can also exploit the natural beauty of the beaches and the islands to attract foreign and local tourists to stimulate the local economy,” he said.

He also hoped that the state government would step up initiatives for youths to venture into the agriculture and entrepreneurship sectors as well as to explore opportunities in the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

“I am pleased that the state government has allocated RM50 million through the People’s Housing Loan Fund to help low-income households make housing loans,” he said. — Bernama