Taib comes to Sarawak moguls’ defence

November 05, 2010

Taib said Sarawak would not have experienced the progress it has without the aid of corporate leaders. — file pic

MIRI, Nov 5 — Sarawakians must reject politicians who perpetrate “anti-rich people” sentiments as this will only deter the state’s quest for greater progress, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said. He said that certain politicians were now trying to inject such ideas and were vocal in criticising successful enterprises in Sarawak in their attempts to win the support of the people.
“There is no such thing as a very thriving economy without businessmen and entrepreneurs,” he said prior performing a ground-breaking ceremony for a four-lane road project linking Taman Tunku and Taman Jelita residential areas, about 12km from here, today.
He said the progress enjoyed by the state would not have come without the support of responsible corporate leaders who were willing to invest in projects with slow returns.
Taib said these businessmen and entrepreneurs had successfully diversified Sarawak’s economy which was once dependent solely on natural resources such as timber, and oil and gas.
The chief minister said big business enterprises had ventured into new range of industries like wide-scale plantations and the service industry, thus spurring the growth of employment and other business opportunities.
He said the Sarawak government’s policy of guiding and encouraging entrepreneurship had always been in tandem with that of the federal government.
The 10th Malaysia Plan and the New Economic Model unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak emphasised on greater involvement of the private sector in the nation’s economy, he added.
“The aim of the government that I lead, like the government that is led by the prime minister, is to always try to develop, to give a better living for the people,” he added.