Abang Johari said Sarawak was currently in talks with Singapore on the matter, adding that Sarawak would only be giving no more than 1,000 megawatts should the plan come to fruition.

“I told them that if they have any investments that require energy, they should bring it to Sarawak, which they have agreed to do,” Borneo Post quoted him as saying.

He suggested that internet companies who need power for their data centres could set themselves up in Sarawak.

Abang Johari pointed out that Sarawak is already supplying electricity to neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia.

“We also have an agreement to help Sabah in producing electricity in Sabah. We also have an agreement to supply electricity to Brunei and now we are in discussions with Singapore.”

He said data centres were the nerve centre of the digital economy and companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon needed large amounts of power for their data centres.

“Singapore may not be able to produce the power so why don’t we collaborate and let Microsoft, Amazon, all these companies come to Sarawak and have their data centres in Sarawak,” he said.

On another note, Abang Johari said there is a need to modernise agriculture including the use of internet technology.

He said many people hesitate to go into agriculture, because of the perception that it is laborious and hard work.

“When we talk about agriculture, we still have the perception of farmers wearing sunhats and carrying hoes, looking worn out. With the use of technology, this is no longer the image of agriculture,” he said.