KUCHING: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim marked his first year leading the unity government last night by thanking Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg for supporting him in ensuring political stability in the country.
Speaking at the Global Muslim Business Forum (GMBF) gala dinner, he said the support had enabled him to steer the country back towards strengthening its economy and charting future progress.
"I just want to say this, that I cannot ignore the fact that Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari and GPS played a vital role in this regard," he said.
He said the first few months of the formation of the unity government had seen them facing some "minor turbulence" but he was grateful that the government had become more stable after a year.
"We can (now) talk about energy transition, digital transformation, economic vibrancy because we are politically stable... we have more than two-thirds majority in Parliament," he said.
At the dinner which was also attended by Indonesian Vice-President Ma'ruf Amin, Anwar said Malaysia was fortunate to have a Muslim-dominant republic as a neighbour who chose to collaborate and complement, rather than aggresively competing with each other.
He said the process of such a collaboration would need to be expedited to ensure Muslim countries could prosper and narrow the development gap with other nations that had already developed earlier.
"I would like to accelerate the process if we want to benefit and not lose out in this race," he said.
According to him, Malaysia's determination to continue taking the lead in the international halal market by aiming for a halal export value of RM63 billion by 2025 was reflected in the 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review in September.
He said Muslim countries could collaborate to tap the huge potential of the halal market which is also acknowledged by Muslim-minority countries that he had visited either in Asia or beyond.
Abang Johari, who spoke earlier, said the state wants to be a part of the global supply chain of the Muslim economies.
He said Sarawak's intention was not only to provide halal products and services, but also solutions to address global challenges such as climate change and food security.
"We are also developing our ecosystem to transform Sarawak's economy that offers vast investment and business opportunities for the world. Our focus is to shift our economic activities towards a more circular economic model and through energy transition," he said.
Abang Johari said the Sarawak Digital Economy Blueprint 2030 was launched in October as a roadmap underlying the state's commitment to leverage on digital technologies for sustainable development.
"The Muslim world has no choice but to adopt technology in pursuit of advancement and I, therefore urge leaders of the Muslim world to explore uses of technology and be sustainable players," he added. — Bernama