Sarawak BN touts its good governance

STATE MANIFESTO: Taib also pledges more jobs, business opportunities through Score
SARAWAK Barisan Nasional launched a five-point state supplementary manifesto pledging good governance; transformation of the state economy; transformation of the rural areas to ensure that people there are not left behind and marginalised; preserving peace, harmony and stability in the state and a sustainable environment.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who launched the manifesto after meeting all the 31 Sarawak BN parliamentary candidates at Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) headquarters at Jalan Bako in Petra Jaya, said the state's accountable and prudent fiscal and financial management was what kept Sarawak abuzz.

"Sarawak's good financial management has been acknowledged by the Auditor-General for 10 consecutive years until now."

He said ratings by international rating agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poors had given the state a positive investment grade credit rating.

"No other state in Malaysia has received these ratings. Sarawak's track record in good governance is crucial to gain the confidence of international investors."

Pointing out that the state's economy was "growing very steadily", due to its efficient and responsive delivery system and strict adherence to financial procedures, Taib said foreign direct investment in 1980 was a mere RM0.1 billion.

In 1990, the FDI in Sarawak was RM1.7 billion and in 2009, it jumped nearly five-fold to RM8.4 billion.

From 2010 to 2020, it is estimated that FDI into the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) alone would balloon to RM147.5 billion.

Taib said to transform the state's economy, the BN would create more business and job opportunities for all in the coming years through Score.

The manifesto stated that Score would provide 836,000 direct employment by the year 2030. The spin-off industries would create another 800,000 jobs.

He pointed out that if Bintulu could be transformed by just one trigger industry -- liquefied natural gas (LNG) -- he asked to "just imagine" what transformation could take place in the state with the 10 trigger industries of Score.

The pace of the transformation of the state's economy was such that it would make Sarawak a developed state "earlier than 2020" and the state's GDP per capita was projected to more than double by the year 2030.

Sarawak projects its GDP per capita to be RM45,00 in 2020 and RM97,500 by 2030.

Taib said in transforming the state's economy, the state BN places top priority on education, particularly in producing people with technical skills.

"We will achieve the high income, developed nation status earlier than 2020."

In its pledge on rural transformation, the supplementary manifesto gave a guarantee of the people's rights over their lands.

It stated the BN government recognised genuine Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands and was committed to bring 1.5 million ha of these NCR lands into the land register.

The state BN government also pledged to continue to provide a network of roads, electricity supply and water supply in the rural areas so people here were not left behind in the mainstream of development.

It added it would continue to improve health services, housing facilities, continue to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas and continue to improve the socio-economic conditions in the rural areas through agricultural entrepreneurship and poverty eradication programmes.

The manifesto also promised a sustainable development.

It also highlighted that Sarawak BN has an excellent record in environmental management where 84 per cent of the state's total land areas of 12.4 million ha is still under forest cover.



Read more: Sarawak BN touts its good governance - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/sarawak-bn-touts-its-good-governance-1.258114#ixzz2QocVHBoY