KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has urged for more infrastructure development to be accelerated in Sabah and Sarawak.
In his royal address at the opening of the First Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament today, Al-Sultan Abdullah said this will enable Sabah and Sarawak to be transformed into the country's new growth centres following the relocation of Indonesia's capital to Kalimantan.
"Infrastructure development for new growth centres in Sabah and Sarawak must be accelerated following the relocation of Indonesia's capital to the province of Kalimantan," said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had announced the plan to move Indonesia's capital from Jakarta to the province of East Kalimantan, which will be named Nusantara.
The plan is an effort to reduce the huge challenges facing Jakarta apart from redistributing wealth around the country.
It was reported that Indonesia had set aside US$35.8 million (RM150.39 million) in the 2022 state budget for the construction of the new capital. The entire project costs US$35 billion (RM147 billion).
Earlier, Al-Sultan Abdullah said the implementation of strategic mega infrastructure projects will provide comfort and connectivity to various locations as well as generate development spill over effects to all regions and further improve the living standards of the people.
As such, the King said the development of connectivity and accessibility networks for existing road networks should continue to spur and stimulate growth of the nation.
"We welcome the Highway Network Development Plan 2030 which has been formulated to identify road infrastructure needs towards creating better communication network systems.
"The highway construction projects such as the Central Spine Road (CSR), West Coast Expressway (WCE), Sarawak-Sabah Link Road and the Sabah and Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway will drive regional development and local economic growth," he said.