KUCHING – The Sarawak state government has identified a new site in Samarahan to be included in the expansion of the Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone (FIZ), as the high-tech park has nearly reached its full capacity.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the expansion was in line with the state government’s aims to intensify its efforts to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs).
Sarawak, he noted, has consistently ranked among the top four investment destinations in Malaysia for manufacturing.
Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the state was still able to attract RM15.7 bil of investment last year.
“Sarawak has a huge landmass and abundant natural resources. Therefore, we need to attract more FDIs to accelerate our economic growth for the benefit of the rakyat.
“We need to continue creating new business opportunities for our business community in the high-tech sector and to continue creating high-skill employment opportunities for our graduates and school leavers,” he said at a working visit to Taiyo Yuden (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd’s new investment project at the Sama Jaya FIZ.
Also present was Taiyo Yuden’s managing director and chief executive officer Yoshio Akimoto.
Awang Tengah said that Sama Jaya FIZ has employed over 13,700 people. 98% of its workforce comprises Sarawakians, with nearly 10% of them being engineers.
He noted that the annual salaries paid to the workforce in Sama Jaya alone stood at RM598 mil last year.
“This has further generated RM667 mil annual spin-offs to our local economy, benefitting small and medium enterprises from logistics to warehousing, machinery supplies and services, maintenance, catering, and laundry,” he noted.
Awang Tengah said the Sama Jaya FIZ has done very well even when the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a global slowdown, affecting the economic growth of many countries.
The multinational corporations in Sama Jaya have successfully exported RM6.93 bil worth of goods last year – an increase of 27.5% from RM5.43 bil in 2019.
Some of the products manufactured in Sama Jaya were found in global brands such as Apple, Samsung and BMW.
Meanwhile, Yoshio said Taiyo Yuden has invested RM700 mil in Sama Jaya FIZ to build a new factory in anticipation of increased demand in the future.
He added that the new factory will be operational in 2023 and would provide employment opportunities for 2,000 people. – Bernama, December 10, 2021
