KUCHING, May 18 — Sarawak welcomes people from outside the state who have certain expertise that locals do not have, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said today.

He said relying on Sarawakians alone is not enough to fill the specialised posts that are vacant in the state.

"For example, the CEO of Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd, the implementer of the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) that will operate the autonomous rapid transit (ART), is from peninsula Malaysia, while other posts are filled by Sarawakians,” he said during a townhall session at Universiti Malaya attended by Sarawakian students studying in peninsula Malaysia.

He said there are other specialised jobs that are also filled by peninsula Malaysians and expatriates.

Abang Johari added Singapore investors will be investing in two private hospitals in Kuching, stressing that medical specialists from Singapore will be recruited to fill vacancies, together with medical specialists from Sarawak.

However, he said there are specialised posts in the state which are held by Sarawakians, citing the CEO of the state-owned methanol plant in Bintulu, and the CEO of the wholly owned Sarawak Microelectronics Design (SMD) Semiconductor Sdn Bhd who once worked in Silicon Valley, in the United States.

"What I mean here is that we need a lot of people to work in some areas that require expertise because the Sarawak economy is based on new economy,” he added.

The premier stressed that the state government needs good lawyers who specialise in analysing new areas and drafting laws, such those relating to cyber laws and cybercrimes.

"I have asked state legal adviser Datuk Seri Talat Mahmood Rashid to look for specialist lawyers to draft laws on cyber security related to commercial transactions using digital channels,” he said.