Sarawak premier says PM Anwar asked him to brief MPs, chief ministers on state’s new economy approach

SIBU, Sept 17 — Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg tonight said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim requested him to give a talk to Members of Parliament and chief ministers from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) on the new economy that Sarawak has adopted.

He said Anwar made the request before the federal Cabinet held its meeting at the State Secretariat at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.

“You know what happened yesterday?” He asked me to give a talk to all the ministers in the federal Cabinet before they start their meeting,” Abang Johari said at a dinner to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the Sarawak Central Chiang Hsia Huang Clan Association here.

The prime minister and the federal Cabinet were in Kuching for the Malaysia Day celebration to mark the 60 years of the formation of Malaysia.

They used the occasion to hold the federal Cabinet meeting since all the federal ministers were in Kuching.

Abang Johari said the prime minister had requested him to give the talk for 30 minutes “to teach them how we live peacefully in Sarawak and how we develop the state, particularly on the new economy.”

The premier said the hydrogen and green economy is new to them.

“Now he wants me to give a talk to all the Members of Parliament and chief ministers on the new economy that Sarawak has adopted.

“Now, they follow us. We don’t follow them,” he said.

Abang Johari said he is very humbled by the request from the prime minister.

He stressed the world is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is climate change.

He said the rise in temperature is affecting the whole world, including China, Middle East , Europe and Malaysia, noting that last July was among the hottest months ever recorded in recent history.

“Sarawak, I told them (the federal Cabinet), is trying our level best to control and mitigate the emission of carbon,” he said.

Abang Johari said Sarawak has started by producing hydrogen as the best fuel of the future.

“We get our hydrogen by splitting the water through the process of electrolyser.

“We have buses powered by hydrogen and we are testing an ART (autonomous rapid transit) vehicle that was brought from China to Kuching, using hydrogen,” he said.