Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg stressed that Sarawak leaders need to be well-versed in the concept of digital economy.

He said Sarawak was embracing digital economy in order to speed up its socio-economic development exponentially.

Hence, he urged all state assemblymen to fully grasp the concept of digital economy and suggested they need to start doing their own research.

"Sarawak will embark on this entirely new dimension of development and growth by creating more new jobs for young people in the urban and rural areas, transforming the way we live and do business," he said.

The chief minister said this in his remarks at a one-day Parliamentary Seminar attended by state assemblymen, political secretaries and heads of department of government agencies.

"I hope by now, all our Yang Berhormat are conversant with the concept of digital economy, since we are moving into an override mode to transform Sarawak through this technology.

"It would be a pity if you cannot debate this subject intelligently in the august House and you also need this knowledge to engage with your constituents in case you are asked to explain what digital economy is all about," he said.

The chief minister also mentioned that he might make assessments based on scorecards or complaints received through word of mouth or through the social media on their poor performance.

Abang Johari said the seminar served as a more focused approach to ensure that all the state assemblymen were performing up to the mark.

"I want you to use wisely the RM5 million allocation for the Rural Transformation Project (RTP) and I want the projects and programmes implemented under this RTP to be completed in a timely and cost-effective manner," he stressed.

The seminar was organised by the Sarawak state government, State Legislative Assembly and the Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service, a training institute that specialises in developing leaders for the Sarawak civil service.

On infrastructure development, the chief minister said his announcement on Sarawak''s plan to develop the LRT system was not just ''hot air'' as claimed by the opposition leaders, adding that Sarawak did not need the federal government for the project.

"The LRT is a state government initiative but Lim Guan Eng said it was only hot air but he will see that the Sarawak BN government will deliver what we promised," he added.

He also mentioned that Bank Negara had approved the setting up of Sarawak Development Bank (SDB), pointing out that the bank would finance strategic projects including ICT and dilapidated school infrastructure (school buildings and teachers'' quarters) in rural areas.

Abang Johari said Sarawak would be using the concept of ''build first'' using loans from SDB and claiming later from the federal government, adding that Sarawak could not afford to wait for federal funding to develop education infrastructure.

-- BERNAMA