State can emulate Estonia

KOTA SAMARAHAN:  Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on Monday (Oct 12) reiterated Sarawak’s hopes to emulate Estonia for model for digital economy.

“I believe we can be on the same par with the rest of the world by emulating Estonia. 

“Estonia, as you know, is in north-eastern Europe. It was under Russia. It developed very fast and has now become a star in Europe in terms of digital economy. We can achieve what Estonia has achieved,” he added when officiating at the launch of D-Virtual Park at Jalan Meranek here on Monday (Oct 12),

Abang Johari explained that Sarawak had to leapfrog from semi-mechanical to digital economy to avoid being left behind in development.

“Some asked we skipped the third level to go to the fourth level. If you were to follow the steps, you will be always be left behind. So, we have to leapfrog — that is what we are doing,” he said.

To push digital economy, the chief minister said the state government would continuously upgrade and improve digital connectivity and infrastructure. 

“We are promoting commercial farming and agriculture including fertigation and IoT.  

“Agriculture encompasses everybody including the farmers and fishermen and the basic commodities that we produce.

“Having said that, we have to upgrade our infrastructure. That’s why I allocated RM1 billion from our own fund to upgrade our infrastructure including communication towers,” he said.

Abang Johari added, “We have set up the Sarawak Multimedia Authority to coordinate all these developments.”

In the meantime, the state, he said, was working hard to prepare its manpower resources and creating awareness on the importance of technology.