Abang Johari said more Sarawakians living outside the country now want to return home to serve the state in their respective fields. – Photo by Nur Shazreena Ali

KUCHING (Oct 10): The state’s efforts to focus on digitisation and renewable energy has drawn many Sarawakians working overseas to return home, said Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

The Premier cited a news report by the Straits Times Singapore, which he said presents a clear picture of how the Sarawak government’s efforts have enabled the state to attract its talents home.

“The Straits Times of Singapore’s special article, which did their own investigation, mentioned that a lot of Sarawakians are coming back to Sarawak to work here. This is true,” he said when officiating at the Premier of Sarawak Industry Excellence Awards (PSIEA) 2023 here yesterday.

Abang Johari said many Sarawakians abroad have found there are increasing opportunities available in the state.

He said most of them are professionals, such as engineers.

“You know at our methanol plant, all our engineers are coming back. Those previously working in Kuala Lumpur now back here, working here at Sarawak Metro,” he said.

Abang Johari also said Sarawak is developing its semiconductor industry and noted Sarawak is still short of chip designers.

He called on professionals, including Sarawakian scholars, who are currently working abroad to come back and help develop the chip design industry.

“Now we are short of designers. As you know, we have set up a company SMD, that is a semiconductor design company where it designs the chips that are used by our chip company XFab here.

“‘That means we need a lot of engineers. We have recruited 20 and they are coming from overseas. But we need another 30 chip designers where they will work at XFab,” he added.