AS PETRONAS transforms as an integrated energy company, our commitment to Sarawak’s transformation deepens. In 2025, we focused our investments where they matter most: building the next generation of leaders, strengthening community resilience, and partnering with the Sarawak Government to accelerate the State’s development priorities.
Education as Strategic Investment
The cornerstone of PETRONAS’ commitment to Sarawak remains education. In 2025, we invested RM28 million in education sponsorships, supporting more than 100 outstanding Sarawakian students pursuing degrees in engineering, science, technology, and business disciplines critical to Malaysia’s energy transition and economic competitiveness.
These aren’t just scholarships – they’re investments in Sarawak’s future leadership. Many of these students will return as engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs who will drive the State’s economic transformation for decades to come.
Through our Powering Knowledge programme, we also ensured nearly 1,800 students across Kuching, Bau, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri, Lambir, Bario, and Mulu had the tools they needed to succeed – school uniforms, supplies, and essentials that remove barriers to learning. Real transformation doesn’t begin in boardrooms; it begins when a child opens a book, when a student enters a classroom, when a community gains access to what was once out of reach.
Strengthening Community Resilience
Working alongside the Sarawak Government and state agencies, PETRONAS responded when communities needed support most. When floods displaced families early in 2025, coordinated relief efforts reached more than 10,000 households through partnerships with state and district authorities. Emergency equipment, rescue resources, and supplies helped maintain safety and access during critical periods.
Throughout the year, we continued supporting state development priorities. In a partnership with the Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Sarawak (SABATI), we allocated RM1.3 million to equip 26 rural health clinics with essential medical supplies valued from 2023 to 2027, aimed to strengthen healthcare access in remote areas aligned with Sarawak’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
Seasonal support during key festive periods – Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Hari Gawai – reached more than 2,500 families across multiple districts, delivered through collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and district offices who understand their communities’ needs best.
Partnership as Principle
“Our approach is to listen to what communities and the State Government identify as priorities, then deploy our resources strategically to support those goals,” said Norazibah Md Rabu, General Manager of PETRONAS Sarawak.
“The RM28 million education investment represents our conviction that Sarawak’s greatest asset is its people – their talent, potential, and drive. Everything else we do – from emergency response to healthcare support – strengthens the foundation that allows that potential to flourish,” she added.
This partnership approach ensures resources reach where they’re needed most, determined not by corporate assumptions but by on-the-ground reality understood by state agencies and local leaders.
Building for Tomorrow
In total, PETRONAS’ 2025 Sarawak initiatives reached more than 21,000 individuals through combined investments exceeding RM31 million, with education sponsorships representing the largest single commitment.
As both PETRONAS and Sarawak continue their respective transformation journeys, the focus remains clear: building capability, creating opportunity, and ensuring that progress reaches every corner of the State – from Kuching to the longhouses of the highlands. The work continues in 2026, guided by the same principle: sustainable development isn’t measured in immediate transactions, but in long-term capacity built, talent developed, and communities strengthened.
