Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad speaks to the press at the State Secretariat Building in Ipoh October 28, 2020. — Picture by Farhan Najib
IPOH, Nov 17 — The Perak state government has identified a total of 1,389 priority projects that have been submitted to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the entire number of projects identified involved a ceiling value of RM27.58 billion.
“Among the major projects that have been identified are the Silver Valley Technology Park (SVTP) Development and the construction of the West Coast Expressway (WCE),” he said in a statement today.
He said the SVTP, a new industrial park in Chemor covering an area of 1,139.2 hectares, was expected to drive the high-tech manufacturing sector and act as a catalyst for the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.
He said the area would be developed by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) within four years from this year.
According to Saarani, the SVTP would focus on five main high-tech manufacturing sectors, namely Electrical and Electronics, Medical and Pharmaceutical Devices, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Intelligent Agriculture and Digital Economy.
The WCE, meanwhile, is a high-impact project that is expected to be completed in 2024, with Sections 8, 9 and 10 already open to the public at a cost of RM1.9 billion for the alignment in Perak.
“The opening of this highway will increase connectivity and facilitate access to the west coast from north to south of Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EPU said in a statement that the 12MP roadshow series held with the Perak State Government today focused on digital development.
It added that the Perak government had emphasised on digitalisation especially for micro, small and medium enterprises while the quality in coverage also needed to be given importance at the engagement session that was also attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
“The digital infrastructure in Perak is being improved through the National Digital Network (Jendela) Plan, which is being implemented from 2020 to 2022,” the statement said.
The statement said Jendela’s target in Perak until the fourth quarter of this year was to build 176 new towers to expand 4G coverage and so far, 46 new towers had been completed.
Apart from that, he said 1,596 of the 1,882 transmitting stations for 4G coverage had been upgraded while the rest would also be upgraded in due time.
“With a total of 252,475 premises earmarked to receive fibre optic access, so far 107,944 premises already have fibre optics in place. Seventy-three Orang Asli villages will also receive wireless satellite broadband coverage and they are all still under implementation,” the statement said.
The Cabinet meeting on Oct 13 agreed to set up the State Digital Economic and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy Council chaired by Mustapa and comprised executive councillors from various states responsible for the digital portfolio.
The council aims to harmonise digital development plans at the Federal and State levels based on the 12MP, Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint and the National 4IR Policy, besides ensuring that the quality of digital connectivity and access to the Internet is at the best level for the benefit of the people.
“Digitalisation is crucial for economic recovery due to Covid-19 and economic sustainability. The State Digital Economic and 4IR Policy Council is very important for the Federal and states to move in tandem towards achieving the targets of the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint,” the statement said. — Bernama