KUCHING: Shortage of labour and meeting the skills requirement of industries will be the greatest challenge for the state government in achieving its goal of high income economy through the second wave of the politics of development.

DEVELOPMENT OF SARAWAK: Taib during the talk show with Khalid (centre) and Syahrina at the RTM Kuching auditorium at Jalan P Ramlee, Kuching. — Photo by Penerangan

As high technology industries were expected to grow rapidly in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), the state must ensure it had a steady supply of skilled workers, said Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud during the Wawancara  television talk show of RTM 1 Wednesday night.

“The human resource that we need by then would not be like the one in phase one of the politics of development. This is one of the problems but it also breeds opportunities for technical education and other training sectors,” said Taib who was the special guest in the talk show.

The show hosted was by Wan Syahrina and Khalid Suud. Taib said skilled labour and experts in the area of engineering and information and communication technology (ICT) would make it possible for investors to move their heavy technology industries here.

Sarawak hoped to attract foreign companies and investors with big capital into SCORE which stretches from Tanjung Manis in Mukah to Similajau, Bintulu in the central region of the state through its second wave of the politics of development,.

Some of the major industries expected to be set up in SCORE are aluminium smelting, Halal food production and renewable energy production.

“The second phase of SCORE development will attract foreign investors with capital of RM8 billion,” he said.

In view of such big investment, the state government is ensuring that training institutions are equipped with technical education that caters for the need of the industries.

Among the universities involved are  Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Curtin University and Swinburne Teknology University.

To achieve high income for the whole state, Taib said the natural resources must be tapped for the benefits of the people as a whole.

One of the measures to achieve economic prosperity was the development of Native Customary Land (NCL) through the latest concept in oil palm plantation development, he added.

The state government had targeted one million hectares of land for oil palm plantation and that about 90 per cent of this target had been achieved Taib disclosed.

Sarawak had also managed to decrease the rate of hardcore poverty from 40 per cent in the 1980s to only four per cent now, he added.