KUCHING: The long period of political stability and social harmony in Sarawak have been identified as the key factors which had helped the state to become an attractive investment destination among local and foreign investors.
State Local Government and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said this was reflected on the stable credit rating for Sarawak by a number of international ratings agencies.
Sarawak, Wong said, scored A- stable outlook by Standard and Poor's as well as A3 stable outlook by Moody's International Credit Rating Agencies.
"The rating testifies the confidence that investors have on Sarawak as an attractive investment destination.
"Sarawak will continue to experience good growth rate of between four and five per cent per annum in the next five year.
"This will be realized with the continued industrialization of the state through the implementation of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) Development Plan," said Wong in welcoming remarks during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state government and three companies from China here today.
Present were Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem and State Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani.
In attendance were representatives from the three companies in China. They are China State Construction Engineering Ltd's business development director Annuar Khairi Mohd Razali, Blue Ocean Energy Co. Ltd's chairman Wu Xingjun and Blue Energy Technology Co. Ltd's chairman Wang Bing.
Wong also said Sarawak has been approved with a total investment worth RM60 billion including RM48 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since 2008.
"This makes Sarawak as one of the largest recipients in FDI in the country," he said.
Wong, however, pointed out only RM2 billion of the total investment during the same period was from China and that the figures declined massively to RM10.4 million last year.
"We hope more investors from China will come and invest in Sarawak."
On the MoU, Wong said, the memorandum was inked to open up more partnerships and investment between Sarawak and China in the future.