Making Sabah agro competitive: Sedia
Published on: Wednesday, May 08, 2024
From left, sitting front row: Marina, Justin, Mary, Hashim, Yunus and Sheila
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority Noor Zafira is committed to empowering the state’s economy by combining Agro Technology and Bioeconomy in Sabah’s agricultural sector to drive it to a higher, competitive and sustainable level.
Its Chief Executive, Datuk Seri Hashim Paijan said the two components are important and capable of driving Sabah’s sustainable economic growth, in line with the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0.
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“We see how fundamental changes where technology and innovation have changed the way we think, work and interact.
“This revolution brings various new technologies such as automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) at the same time that has revolutionized the agricultural sector,” he said.
He said this while speaking while attending the inauguration of the ‘Future Talent Connect’ Series 1.0 Program here on Tuesday.
According to Hashim, the partnership that was held for the first time was part of an initiative planned to support the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) 2.0 Blueprint which aims to encourage economic and social development in Sabah with a focus on inclusive and sustainable growth.
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“The theme of Agro-Technology and Bioeconomy is very relevant in the context of global economic development because the use of biological resources and technology in our agricultural sector is indeed capable of producing value-added products such as biofuels, plant-based products and high-quality foodstuffs.
“People used to have a close relationship with the land and agricultural activities were the main source for them to get income and profit.
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“The trend of modernization and urbanization is seen to have changed this landscape and I call on all the young generation of this age to change their perception, I want to invite everyone to inspire our young generation, to see agriculture from a new angle, as an innovative and dynamic sector,” he said again.
In addition, Hashim also emphasized that the young generation needs to play an important role in the planned changes.
“We need to give them full support and open up space and opportunities for our young generation, so that they can become ‘game changers’ in supporting efforts to advance the agriculture, agrotechnology and bioeconomy sectors.
“I am confident that our cooperation will definitely be able to create an ecosystem to encourage agriculture to become a sector that makes a significant contribution to the state’s economy and food security,” he explained further.
In the program series, a total of 125 participants consisting of prospective graduates, alumni and academics from higher education institutions participated.
The objective of organizing the series of programs is to foster the interest of the target group in career paths related to the topic of sharing, build and establish close relationships with the target group who are leaders in the career field related to the topic of sharing, and collect and translate related data and information for use in time and on an appropriate agenda for the benefit of human capital development.
Among the guest speakers involved in the sharing session with the participants were the Chief Executive Officer of AgriData Portal Sdn. Bhd. Matthew Johnny Kulai, Founder of A Leaf Cornelius Chong, Senior Manager Malaysia Bioeconomy Development Corporation Sdn. Bhd. Christabel Loni Jiram, Chief Executive Officer of AnginDotCom UAS Training & Services Sdn. Bhd. Mohd Ridwan Amirudin and REDTone IOT Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (MDEC) Siti Zuraini Zakaria.
In addition, the same is also present were Chief Human Capital Development Officer Marina Abd Ghanie, Senior Manager Justin Janim, Senior Vice President Mary Sintoh, Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Sector) cum Chief Financial Officer Yunus Gastom, and Chief Corporate Communications Officer Sheila Radin.
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