Sarawak govt to acquire commercial bank, says Abang Jo

KUCHING: The Sarawak government will take over a commercial banking company in the near future, announced Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

According to him, this acquisition will be revealed on July 19 through an official signing ceremony together with the company concerned.

“There are as many as six banks that originated from Sarawak and now, we want to take it back. What we will take over soon is actually bigger than the six banks.

“With it, we are going to be a dominant player in banking business in Malaysia, InsyaAllah,” he said.

Abang Johari said this during the question and answer session at the Assar Dividend announcement ceremony at Hikmah Exchange Event Centre here today (July 5).

Based on the previous reports, he stated that Sarawak needs a bank to aid its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and its own business activities.

He said Sarawak is keen to own a bank because last time, the state used to have six banks originating from it, including Bank Utama and Wah Tat Bank.

“When there was a policy (by the federal government) to merge all these banks (post-Asian financial crisis), our banks were all swallowed by the big banks, if I can use the word ‘swallowed’.

“We feel like we need a bank in order to boost our SMEs and business activities in Sarawak,” he said.