Sarawak wants digital push to deliver jobs and investment

KUCHING, 5 Oct: Sarawak is placing focus on building local businesses, attracting investment and creating higher-value jobs through its digital economy drive.

Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said Sarawak should not only benefit from the growth of the regional digital economy, but become a contributor to it.

“The opportunity, therefore, is not simply for Sarawak to access a larger regional market. It is for Sarawak to contribute to that market,” he said at the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2026, here.

He said Sarawak was building capabilities in renewable energy, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, aerospace and food systems as regional economic links continued to expand.

Abang Johari added that the state wanted a stronger link between research, industry, investment and markets so that ideas developed in Sarawak could eventually become products and services.

“For Sarawak, this means creating an environment where a researcher can develop an idea, where a company can test and commercialise it, where investors can support its growth, and where the resulting product or service can find markets beyond Sarawak,” he said.

He further said Sarawak did not need to develop every technology on its own and could work with universities, industries, research institutions and international partners.

“We don’t have to reinvent, but we collaborate and share ideas,” he explained.

The Premier also pointed to Sarawak’s move into the space economy, including its plan to develop its first nanosatellite using CubeSat technology by 2030.

The satellite is expected to provide data for areas including agriculture, forestry, environmental monitoring, disaster response and natural resource management.

Meanwhile, Utility and Telecommunication Minister Dato Sri Julaihi Narawi said Sarawak’s digital development should now be judged by what it could deliver to the economy.

“Building capability alone is not enough.

“If research remains in the laboratory, if innovation stops at the prototype stage or if technology is adopted without solving a real economic or social problem, then we have not realised its full value,” he said.

Julaihi said closer links were needed between the government, industry, universities, researchers, investors and entrepreneurs to move more ideas into commercial use.

“We must turn infrastructure into opportunity. We must turn research into application. We must turn innovation into businesses and investment,” he added. – TVS