November 09, 2009 19:32 PM

Sarawak To Register 2.8 Per Cent GDP Growth Next Year

KUCHING, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Sarawak's gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to register a growth of 2.8 per cent next year, with the expected slight improvement in the global economy and commodity prices, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said on Monday.

He said the positive growth was also due to the implementation of the accomodative fiscal and monetary policies at the national level while the state was also expected to achieve a comparatively healthy average annual economic growth of 3.9 per cent during the Ninth Malaysia Plan period.

"However the growth of the state economy is revised to 0.7 per cent in 2009 from two per cent estimated earlier against the current global economic scenario, which will have an impact on our economy as it is becoming more integrated with the rest of the world," said Taib, who is State Finance Minister, when tabling the Supply (2010) Bill 2009 at the state legislative assembly sitting here.

On the supply side, he said growth was expected to remain broad-based, led by the services sector, particularly the utilities, and wholesale and retail trade as well as transport and communications sub-sectors which were projected to register a more moderate growth of 3.3 per cent this year and 3.9 per cent respectively next year.

For the first half of this year, slower external trade had affected the cargo-related activities at ports, which dropped by six per cent compared to the second half of last year but is expected to improve in 2010 as the world trade volume is anticipated to expand slightly.

Taib said visitors arrivals in the state also declined by 13 per cent in the first half of 2009 as compared to the second half of last year mainly due to the impact of global economic crisis and Influenza A H1N1 on travelling frequencies worldwide.

However, the figures were expected to pick up next year while the start of operations at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching was anticipated to help spur the growth of tourism-related industries, particularly meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) activities in the state, he said.

For 2010, Taib said the growth of the manufacturing sector was expected to peform slightly better at 2.6 per cent compared to 0.3 per cent this year on the premise that export demand for manufactured products would improve as the world economy stablised.

The agriculture sector was estimated to grow at 1.7 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year as crude palm oil prices were expected to be slightly better next year and palm oil production anticipated to increase as matured areas expanded, he said.

Taib said the construction sector was expected to register a growth of 4.1 per cent this year despite the slower construction activities for residential sub-sector as the civil engineering works arising from the implementation of the two stimulus packages would greatly boost its growth.

"The implementation of more projects in the Ninth Malaysia Plan as well as projects supporting the development of the Sarawak Corridor on Renewable Energy (Score) will be crucial in supporting and sustaining the growth momentum of the economy in time of the current global economic uncertainties," he said.

-- BERNAMA

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