Image credit: The Star
THE state of Sarawak is ready to supply energy to regional countries like Singapore and the completion of the proposed undersea power cable to export renewable energy up to 1 GW (gigawatt) in the future.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Datuk Abang Johari Tun Openg said that is among the strategy for the state to leverage on its competitive advantage in clean energy to spur the economic activity and influence the economic prosperity that will complement Peninsular Malaysia.
“We have the access to energy, and while we are building ours, why not work together. In return Singapore can help us bring in investment to Sarawak in terms of power.
“What we do is we just supply the power. We also need the undersea cable which is very expensive. Singapore will be in charge of the undersea cable, while we supply the power, “ he said at a press conference during Affin Malaysia Market Outlook 2024: Propelling Malaysia forward.
Abang Johari emphasised that the timeline for completion of undersea cable is 2032 and Sarawak will continue to develop this strength and fundamentals while determining more attractive tariff to attract investors.
“With the access of power and attractive tariffs, more investors will come and when that happens, it will strengthen the ringgit because it is based on supply and demand. If we have the investment our Ringgit value will be high,” Abang Jo said.
During his special address, he also highlighted Sarawak transition to focus more on dean energy, particularly in the area of biomass, solar heat, hydropower and developing cascading dams along the rivers without jeopardising the environment.
Separately, the Sarawak government is also to “close” its negotiations with the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) to raise its controlling stake in Affin Bank as part of the strategy to boost the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) and business activity in Sarawak.
He added that Sarawak used to own many banks in the past but due to the merger policy our banks were swallowed by the big banks.
“We want to look at the bank because it is part of the investment, the bank will boost our capital outlay and that is why we are interested in looking at bank, and looking at Affin, we are more or less conducive in term of our discussions with LTAT,” Abang Jo concluded.
Meanwhile Affin Bank President and Group CEO, Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah said Sarawak and Affin Bank have a lot in common especially in terms of progressiveness, pillar of vision to drive the local economic growth.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2024/01/30/sarawak-ready-to-export-energy-to-others-via-proposed-undersea-power-cables/