Dato’ Sri Victor Hii Lu Thian
KUCHING (Oct 6): Sarawak should introduce a human capital development roadmap which is aligned to the needs of local businesses to achieve the aspiration of becoming a high-income state by 2030, said ASTEEL Group (Asteel) group managing director Dato’ Sri Victor Hii Lu Thian.
He said the human capital roadmap should include programmes or initiatives to enhance technical and non-technical skills that will be beneficial for key economic sectors such as services, manufacturing, construction and so on in Sarawak.
“The roadmap should also include plans for more job creation to provide gainful employment to Sarawak and help reduce Malaysia’s unemployment rate and dependence on foreign labour,” he said in a statement.
He hoped that the government would consider introducing more human capital development initiatives to improve the employability of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) talents as well as promote a higher income bracket for TVET graduates among others in its efforts to develop a skilled workforce.
“At the same time, the government should introduce tax incentives for global companies to recognise Sarawak as a business hub to create more jobs for TVET graduates and encourage manufacturers in Sarawak to upskill their existing workforce through professional technical training programmes to ease their transition towards technology adoption and smart manufacturing,” he said.
Hii said the federal government’s plans in allocating between 15 per cent and 18 per cent of the total basic development allocation for Sabah and Sarawak annually under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) was very much welcomed.
“As part of efforts to reduce the disparities between East Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia, it is the Group’s fervent hope that the government will continue solidifying the provision of infrastructure, enhancing human capital development, developing cross border economic activities to transform the towns along the borders, transforming rural areas to uplift their standard of living and providing opportunities for entrepreneurship and enhancing inclusive development for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Sarawak,” he said.
He said while the government improves on inadequate infrastructure such as basic utilities, telecommunications and transportation, it should also propose interim solutions to mitigate the disruptions to the quality of life for Sarawakians.
“For example, providing access to clean water and sanitation in rural areas, establishing more medical facilities as well as providing efficient and cheaper modes of transportation.
“As for efforts on the development of industrial estates, we hope that the federal and state governments will look into upgrading the internet bandwidth and connectivity at industrial parks to accelerate digitalisation and smart manufacturing efforts in line with the evolving global manufacturing landscape in Sarawak,” he said, adding that improving transportation systems to these industrial parks in Sarawak will also help businesses reduce supply time and logistics costs.
“By putting efficient infrastructure in place, this will help businesses reduce the cost of doing business, improve productivity and enhance global competitiveness.”
On SMEs, he said there should be further identification of potential areas for SMEs and MSMEs in Sarawak to further contribute to the economic growth of the state.
“The government should give more support to reduce SMEs cash flow burden via various schemes and incentives to promote digitalisation and automation.; provide training programmes to educate SMES and MSMEs in East Malaysia on technology adoption; introduce more tax incentives to ease the burden of SMEs and MSMEs in the state as well as more initiatives to bring Malaysian products to consumer markets abroad.”
He said Asteel hoped that both the federal and state governments will take these suggestions into consideration as the nation moves towards contributing to the targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth of between 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent under the 12MP.