High standards set for MNCs

2009/11/04

By Sulok Tawie

KUCHING: Sarawak insists that all multinational companies comply with international environmental standards and practices when setting up operations in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

"The practices include the Equator Principles and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People.

"The compliance by MNCs will mean that SCORE is positioning itself as an alternative investment destination," Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan told an International Energy Week 2009 Conference here yesterday.

Dr Chan, who is also the state Minister of Industrial Development, said Sarawak would continue to take necessary steps to ensure that the development of SCORE, especially the energy sector, would conform to standards set by the international community.

It is anticipated that the private sector will invest about RM267 billion or 80 per cent of the proposed investment totalling RM334 billion by 2030.

Dr Chan said although SCORE was still in its infancy, it had attracted interest from investors, especially those in the heavy, capital and energy intensive industries.

"In fact, a few MNCs have decided to invest in SCORE and we are continually receiving and dealing with investors interested in the development corridor."

Sarawak, he added, had great potential to produce renewable energy and it would be able to supply clean energy as demanded by investors.

Dr Chan said the development of energy resources was the backbone of the state's industrialisation programme.