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Sarawak is located on the North-Western shore of Borneo Island. It is the largest of the 13th states in the Federation of Malaysia and covers a total area of 124,449 sq km, which is nearly 40% of the country’s land mass. It borders Sabah in the North, Brunei in the north-west and the Indonesian province of Kalimantan to the east.
Sarawak’s history is unique and colourful. Prior to the 1841, the state was ruled by the Brunei Sultanate and this was followed by the rule of the White Rajahs from 1841 to 1945, as well as the Japanese Occupation from 1941 to 1945. It later became known as a British Colony from 1946, before finally achieving Independence through Malaysia on the 16th September 1963.
Sarawak’s administrative system is largely influenced by the British system, with the head of state or the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri as the Governor and the Chief Minister as the Chief Executive of the government of Sarawak, heading the state cabinet.
Sarawak is comprised of 11 administrative divisions, namely Kuching division, Samarahan division, Sri Aman division, Betong division, Sarikei division, Mukah division, Kapit division, Bintulu division, Miri division and Limbang division.
The city of Kuching, located in the southern region, is the state capital, while Miri in the northern region, is known as Sarawaks Resort City. The other major Towns of Sarawak are Sibu & Bintulu in the central region.
Sarawaks economy is largely driven by its abundant natural resources such as oil, gas and timber, but since the 1980’s, Sarawak began diversifying and transforming its economy and started focusing on manufacturing, high-tech industries, modern agriculture and the services sector.
Tanjung Manis Halal Hub is a delta area comprising the estuaries of three major rivers including Batang Rejang, the longest river in Malaysia. The environment is near pristine mangrove and coastal peat forest that is ideal for agriculture.The population of Tanjung Manis is approximately 35,000 people, with the majority of workers employed as coastal fishermen, small-scale farmers or civil servants.
Development in Tanjung Manis Halal Hub will target investment and projects that are high in value and will generate efficient production, which will translate into a high-income economy in line with the aspirations of the Federal Government under the New Economic Model (NEM). This model is achievable at Tanjung Manis because the local population are primarily fishermen and farmers who understand food production techniques in a complex delta area. However, to achieve the full potential of the area there is a need to bring in investors with new technology and skills to raise human capacity and productivity, especially through training.Tanjung Manis Halal Hub is an important initiative designed to position Tanjung Manis as the Southern Growth Node of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE). Furthermore, in the Master Plan of the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), Tanjung Manis Halal Hub has been designated as the ‘Preferred Halal Hub Cluster Project’.
Industrial and modern development in Tanjung Manis commenced since the early 1990’s where the Sarawak state had begun its development of the town by focusing mainly on timber & palm oil industries under the supervision of the Sarawak Timber Development Corp (“STIDC”) (a fully owned state government agency).
The other activities in existence in Tanjung Manis today are the deep sea fishing, oil & gas facilities, palm oil refinery, ship building, small scale aquaculture, cottage crops such as corn, pineapple (not for commercial production), etc. As such, basic infrastructure such as road works, utilities, a new township, a small airport strip (30 mins from Kuching), are already in place to cater for its existing needs. The state recently earmarked almost 77,000 Ha of land in Tanjung Manis to start the development of sustainable green industries such as organic & Halal foods as well as renewable energy focusing on solar and wind power as its thrust of economic development over the next 20 years. In order to roll out this new development, the state has earmarked the first 41,872 acres of land to roll out the project. This area will need to be further developed in terms of building new common infrastructure, expanding the treated water and electricity supply, communication, public amenities, a new township, expanded airports, dedicated sea ports, industrial zones, etc. These projects have been earmarked for development over the next 5 years in order to accommodate the growth of economic development that is to take place.
Sarawak is located strategically south of the booming North Asian markets of the Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Japan, South Korea, and also major economies including Australia and India.
In terms of logistics, access to these markets is relatively simple, as they are separated only by the South China Sea. These markets would be even more accessible as connectivity to the corridor starts to rapidly improve.
Sarawak has a great scope for assuming a new role as industrial centres for these developed markets, especially as neighbouring entrepots become more congested and their costs continue to rise. SCORE is located in Sarawaks’s Central Region and stretches 320 kms along the coast from Tanjung Manis to Samalaju and extends all the way into the surrounding areas and the extensive and remote hinterland. The corridor covers an area of 70,709 sq km, with a population of 607,800 people. SCORE also covers many settlements and urban centres such as Sibu, Bintulu, Mukah, Sarikei and Kapit.
