Taib and Ragad (centre) with Prince of Arcot, Mawab Mohamad Abdul Ali (fourth left), and wife Sayeeb Begun (fourth right). Others from left are Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Awang Hasan, Dato Sri Empiang Jabu and Datuk Patinggi Alfred Jabu. Dato Dayang Morliah is at right. — Photo by Penerangan

KUCHING: The mission to Chennai was both successful and timely to strengthen the existing good ties and collaboration in many areas for the good of the Sarawak and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, said Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

This was more so now as Sarawak had entered her second wave of industrialization programme with the establishment of a clear master plan in industrial development, particularly in the development of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), he said.

“Hence, our mission here shall bring forth the establishment of clear direction and human resource development in producing the much needed skilled and semi-skilled workforce among our younger generation to meet the demand of industries set up or to be set up, in SCORE and areas outside SCORE,” he said.

He said this when speaking at a dinner reception hosted by  Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, at the Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai on Thursday.

The development of SCORE, as envisaged by Taib when he was then chief minister, has come at the right time to push Sarawak further up the value chain and to create numerous opportunities for mutual benefits, he added.

He said the briefings and discussions that followed thereafter highlighted numerous areas of interest, whereby all the stakeholders could pursue as a way forward to open up huge opportunities and establish linkages and suitable training programmes in skills and semi-skills for students, staff and lecturers on technical education and others.

Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister for Industrial Development and Minister for Public Utilities, also thanked Taib for leading the delegation to Chennai, adding that the mission had been a great success.

Earlier, on Dec 8, Taib witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between B.S. Abdur Rahman University and Yayasan Sarawak and between B.S. Abdur Rahman University and University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS).

Among those present were Taib’s wife Toh Puan Ragad Kurdi Taib, Malaysia’s Consul-General in Chennai Citra Devi Ramiyah, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nasar, and representatives from Yayasan Sarawak and UCTS.


Taib witnessing the exchange of MoU documents between BS Abdur Rahman University, Chennai, with UCTS represented by Vice Chancellor Pro Dato’ Dr Abdul Hakim. Asfia and Awang Tengah are at fifth and sixth left respectively. — Photo by Penerangan