THE Sarawak government is hoping to learn from the best practices of creating and maintaining a sovereign wealth fund in the United Kingdom as part of its preparation to set up a similar fund in the state. 

Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg said the state needs to study fund management and governance along with investment strategies and legal and policy frameworks as part of its benchmarking process. 

“Sarawak’s financial position is now quite strong, so we want to generate revenue from future surplus funds for the benefit of our future generations,” he said in a statement issued by his office after leading a delegation to meet International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) officials and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) representatives in London today.

He added that through the meeting, which was held at the PwC headquarters in London, he hoped IFSWF officials could share their experiences and expert knowledge on the operation and governance of state-owned investment funds. 

According to its website, IFSWF, formed in 2008, is a voluntary organisation of global sovereign wealth funds that are committed to cooperate and strengthen the community through dialogue, research and self-assessment. 

Abang Johari’s delegation include Deputy Premiers Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Dr Sim Kui Hian, state secretary Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, state attorney-general Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, state financial secretary Wan Lizozman Wan Omar, and deputy state secretary Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel. 

Later, the Sarawak delegation met fund managers of the UK Government Investment Ltd (UKGI), a company wholly owned by the Treasury, to understand, among others, policy structure intervention, and to seek expert advice on the development of sovereign wealth funds. 

The premier had previously said that an ordinance would be tabled at the Sarawak assembly in November to provide the legal framework for the creation of the fund. 

He had travelled to Norway and Singapore to make similar studies of the models used in these countries to operate such a fund. – Bernama, July 29, 2022.