KUCHING: Yayasan Sarawak must play a key role in developing a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce capable of propelling Sarawak beyond the middle-income trap towards an advanced economy.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said talent development was crucial as Sarawak continued to transform its economic landscape from traditional resource-based industries, including timber, forestry and agriculture, towards a modern economy.
He said the foundation had been instrumental in developing Sarawak’s human capital since its establishment, providing educational opportunities that enabled Sarawakians to pursue tertiary studies and subsequently contribute to the state’s development.
“Talent is the key for us to move forward towards the new economy. For that, Yayasan Sarawak has to play a very important pivotal role to produce Sarawakians with the talent needed to leapfrog our economy from the middle-income trap to an advanced economy,” he said.
He was speaking during the Yayasan Sarawak 55th anniversary event at Pullman Hotel here, on Wednesday (Nov 4).
He said Sarawak owed much to the foresight of its past leaders, particularly the late chief minister Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, who established Yayasan Sarawak to expand access to education and develop local talent.
Abang Johari said many Sarawakian students had been sent to Malaya to pursue tertiary education, with many returning to serve as leaders in various sectors, including politics, business and established institutions.
He said the state’s changing economic landscape had also necessitated a shift in its education strategy to produce Sarawakians with a global outlook and the capabilities to meet the demands of a modern economy.
Among the initiatives were the establishment of international schools offering the Cambridge syllabus alongside the national curriculum, as well as the development of higher education institutions such as Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), Sarawak Tun Openg University of Technology and Kolej Laila Taib.
“And this strategy is basically to produce Sarawakian, Sarawak with a global mind. And this is very important for us to leapfrog and be a developed part of Malaysia.
“In this system, Sarawakian have to be given assistance in order to achieve that talent, and it must be beneficial across all societies in Sarawak, be it in the rural as well as in urban areas.
“Accessibility to good education is paramount,” he said.
At the event, Abang Johari also officiated at the launch of the proposed new Sarawak Complex in Kuala Lumpur.
The complex will provide accommodation and a dedicated gathering place for Sarawakians students studying in Malaya
