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(Mesyuarat dimulakan pada jam 2:34 petang)
[Tuan Speaker mempengerusikan Mesyuarat]
Tuan Speaker: Ahli-Ahli Yang Berhormat dengan segala hormatnya saya menjemput
Yang Amat Berhormat Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Bin Mahmud, Ketua Menteri Sarawak,
Menteri Kewangan dan Menteri Perancangan Sumber dan Alam Sekitar untuk
menyampaikan ucapan penggulungan.
Ketua Menteri (Y.A.B. Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud): Bismillahir Rahmanir
Rahim. Tuan Speaker, terlebih dahulu saya ingin mengucapkan syukur ke hadrat Allah
S.W.T kerana dengan rahmat dan kurniaNya maka kita dapat bersama-sama bersidang
di Dewan yang mulia ini untuk membahas perkara-perkara yang penting mengenai
pembangunan negeri dan kesejahteraan rakyat. Kita juga perlu bersyukur kerana
negara kita Malaysia dan Negeri Sarawak khasnya berada di dalam keadaan aman dan
damai. Walaupun kita ada saksi berlakunya beberapa buah negara-negara khasnya di
Eropah yang mengalami keadaaan sosial, ekonomi dan politik yang kurang stabil.
Kestabilan politik dan ekonomi yang stabil yang kita kecapi selama ini telah
memboleh kita meneruskan agenda perjuangan dan pembangunan kita untuk membela
nasib dan masa hadapan rakyat kita. Setelah meneliti perbahasan oleh Ahli-Ahli Yang
Berhormat di Dewan yang mulia ini, saya dapati kebanyakan Ahli-Ahli Yang Berhormat
telah membangkitkan isu-isu yang berkaitan dengan pembangunan, kebajikan dan
kesejahteraan rakyat.
Kesemua isu-isu tersebut telah pun dijawab oleh Menteri-Menteri saya mengikut
bidang kuasa kementerian masing-masing. Di dalam ucapan penggulungan saya ini,
saya akan menjelaskan kepada Dewan yang mulia ini betapa pentingnya pembangunan
untuk terus menyediakan tenaga ataupun energy development yang cukup untuk
pertumbuhan ekonomi kita.
Di dalam konteks pembangunan Negeri Sarawak, pembangunan tenaga
terutama sekali tenaga hidro secara sistematik melalui pelan pembangunan SCORE
merupa langkah yang paling sesuai untuk memacukan pertumbuhan ekonomi negeri ini
ke arah mencapai status sebuah negeri maju yang berpendapatan tinggi menjelang
tahun 2020.
Sarawak Niche in Global Economy Today
Tuan Speaker, since merdeka, the initiative of the national Government elected
by the people had always been focused on pushing the growth and diversification of the
National economy in order to bail on the success of Malaysia as a prominent commodity
producer. We could not stay there all the time. We have to move by other strategies
especially by industrialization.
The whole of Peninsular Malaysia was transformed by this new drive. Even
Penang which was planned by British to be an entre port has to revamp its development
plan to make sure it will not be left behind by only relying on tax free position. The tax
free position could not stay forever and when it got to be taken out Penang must be
ready or through, find new base for economy development.
That was splendidly achieved by the initiative of a visionary leader in a person of
the late Tun Lim Chong Yu who through the support of the Federal Government being
the electronic industry that has become the life blood of Penang Island today. This is the
perfect case of how responsible autonomy given to a State has integrated the island BELUM DISUNTING
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economy into the big national economy. So, as to from the construction of two very
expensive bridges, we in Sarawak, like Penang, does not have the same ready made
structure to fit into the uniform pattern of development as the main body of Malaysian
economy. And therefore have to find our own niche to further push our development to
achieve high income status. For us, SCORE is the answer. No matter what pattern of
development, Penang and Sarawak adopt, to keep pace with the Malaysian economy
which we will benefit from the fact that we have the aggressiveness to find the
appropriate role as parts of the world trader as Malaysia has always been for many,
many years.
The rising price of petrol and the changing world market configuration between
the developed and developing world gave Sarawak a chance to carve our own niche in
the new world trades shift.
World Economy Situation
Energy is an important resource for all economies. Countries can even go to war
for energy. Without adequate energy supply, there will be no modern economy. Without
the development of energy resources, there will be no economic growth. The World
Bank this year reported that Asia Pacific account for 39% of the world‘s energy.
According to its latest available data, which are for 2009, China alone consumes
half of it, at 19%. North America and Europe consume 22% each. India consumes 6%
and Japan 4%. Much of the problem of the global warming issue comes for the burning
of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels account for over 70% of the green-house gas emissions in the
world. Fossil fuels are estimated to account or about 81% of global energy consumption,
nuclear power, nearly 6% and renewable energy nearly 13%.
The preferred shift of world energy consumption is from fossil fuels and nuclear
power to renewable energy. In renewable energy, the areas being explored are solar
energy, wind power, geothermal energy, biomass, hydropower and ocean energy. Most
of these new energy maybe available only at a very high cost.
In reality, it will be the economics of the generation and distribution of energy that
will determine the direction of the trend. Several developments are taking place.
According to the International Energy Agency, there is resurgence in oil and gas
production in the United States, driven by upstream technologies which are unlocking
light tight oil and shale gas resources. This could moderate the rise in the price of
energy. At the same time, the United States will be reducing its import of oil as it could
become the largest oil producer in the world by 2020, with North America expected to
become a net oil exporter by 2030. This is a change in scenario. American oil exports
will go to Asia, which will intensify the security of the strategic route through the Middle
East.
Iraq is striving to be the second largest oil exporter in the world with an eye to
increase export to China.
The demand for LNG will grow in China, India and Middle East. The US will have
abundant supply, this abundant supply will see gas overtaking oil by around the year
2030 to become the biggest fuel in the energy mix. Gas in Europe is trying to regain its
previous predominance, while in Japan, gas is limited by higher gas prices and a policy
to focus on renewable and energy efficiency.
In the last decade, coal met nearly half the rise in the demand for energy in the
world. China and India are projected to account for nearly three-quarters of the growth in BELUM DISUNTING
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coal demand outside of OECD countries. China demand will peak around 2020 and
become steady by the year 2033. India will rise and by the year 2025 will overtake the
US as the second largest user of coal in the world.
Japan and France seem to reduce its use of nuclear energy. Nevertheless,
nuclear output will continue to grow, driven by capacity expansion in China, Korea, India
and Russia. But its share in the global electricity mix will fall slightly over time.
There has been a steady increase in hydropower development and the rapid rise
in wind and solar power. The development of solar energy in the equatorial area is still
not as efficient as elsewhere, and may not be able to give a firm and steady supply of
energy. Bio-fuel supply can be increased in the future but it has to compete with rising
demand for food to supply the growing world population, especially in the likely
occurrence of disruption caused by climate changes. By the year 2035, renewable
energy is expected to account for nearly one-third of the world‘s total electricity output
but at what price?
Sarawak as Energy Producer
Tuan Speaker, we know Sarawak is a major energy producer. It is probably not
on par with the big world producer, but certainly within the context of our population and
our future growth. We have benefited from the development of oil and gas and many
Sarawakians have developed world-class careers as a result. Entire towns like Miri and
Bintulu, in particular, have sprung up because of the oil and gas industry.
It is very clear in the mind of the State economic planners that the energy sector
is a sector that we must strengthen and develop further. Sarawak can become a much
bigger economy, with the availability of energy resources especially if the industrial
sector can be developed more ambitiously. We until now have petroleum and natural
gas. And now, we are going into coal-fired plants and hydro-electric power dams. We
shall also explore biofuels and solar energy in the future, once we are sure of its
economic viability.
Building a Manufacturing Industrial Base
Instead of just exporting our resources abroad, however, we are drawing the
buyers of our resources to do their operations in Sarawak so that more jobs can be
created for Sarawakians in their own country. By this incremental step, we wish to create
a significant manufacturing and industrial base in Sarawak that can generate even more
good jobs and business opportunities to our people in the immediate years ahead.
Attracting investments and investors into Sarawak and creating jobs and
business opportunities are an important step in our development strategy. It is the
inducement of investment and the corresponding build up of talents that we are going to
accelerate the development of Sarawak and equip her to compete effectively with the
rest of the world. We shall build this critical mass on the back of a competitively-priced
energy that is determined predominantly by hydro-electricity power in the energy mix.
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