Sarawak transitions to green energy

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sarawak government’s free tertiary education policy is part of its efforts to enhance talent and human capital to support the state’s transition towards green energy, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He highlighted that Sarawak is currently addressing two major international issues: green energy and food security, with the former requiring human capital to aid in its progress.

“After focusing on energy, the question is talent.

“Through the five Sarawak-owned institutions of higher learning, namely Curtin University Malaysia, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Universiti Teknologi Sarawak, i-CATS University College and Centre of Technical Excellence (Centexs), we are investing in education.

“To them (students), it’s free, but it’s not free for the government, because we pay for them.

“The Sarawak government will pay the fees for them, in order for us to produce the right human resource, the talent that is needed in the industry.”

Abang Johari said this at the launch of MIDA Invest Series: ‘Sarawak – Unfolding Its Business Potential’ held at Perdana Hall, MIDA Sentral today (July 17).

Meanwhile, Abang Johari pointed out that various institutions under the Sarawak government are actively collaborating with international partners to elevate talent development in emerging sectors in the state.

“We have semi-conductors now. We are even producing design chips for Melexis, a vendor to X-FAB. In other words, we are producing engineers who can design chips.

“We also have to produce what we call compound chips, where the chip can be material, data storage, including AI and generative AI.

“We are working with Melexis Belgium, as well as the UK’s Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, to help us produce engineers in this semi-conductor area,” he added.

Abang Johari also said he had instructed i-CATS University College to set up an aerospace faculty, collaborating with partners from the UK.

“This will allow us to train Sarawakians and Malaysians in general, to become more knowledgeable about data storage. Data comes through signals, and the signal is in the satellite. We are focusing our students on the aerospace industry, particularly in the realm of signals in our space spectrum.

“In other words, with talent development, new emerging industries and our strength in green energy, we are positioning Sarawak for a promising future,” he said.