Kuching City earmarked to site Commonwealth Leadership Institute to train potential leaders in Commonwealth countries

LONDON, April  16, 2017 -  Kuching City has been earmarked as one of the four places to site the Commonwealth Leadership Institute (CLI)  to train potential leaders within the Commonwealth countries, Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg has said in the British capital.

Caption: Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg (centre) posing with the Sarawakian students studying in the United Kingdom.

He said the proposal, if approved by the governing body, would be a collaborative effort between the Commonwealth initiative and the existing Leadership Institute of the Sarawak Civil Service, he said when addressing Sarawak students  studying in the United Kingdom at a restaurant in the British capital Saturday night. 

CLI,  under the patronage of Princess Anne, is an international network of leaders in business, labour, government and civil society who are passionate about developing the capability of future leaders in communities and countries across the Commonwealth.

Abang Johari said Sarawak was honoured to be chosen as one of the four sites and he believed that the centre would likely to be bestowed with a British royal title upon materialisation.

The other sites are Oxford University for the UK, one in Africa, and one either in Caribbeans or Australia / Pacific Island and all the centres would be linked with the world-renowned and oldest university in UK.

On Wednesday night the Chief Minister, his wife Datin Amar Dato Hajah Juma’ani Tun Datuk Tuanku Haji Bujang and other members of his entourage attended a dinner hosted by Princess Anne at Saint James Palace here.

The dinner was to mark the success of the Emerging Leaders Dialogue 2016 that was held in Kuala Lumpur and Kuching was a destination for one of the study tours. The ELD 2016 was a first for Malaysia and was chaired by Adrain Jerome.

During the royal dinner, the chief minister said that Princess Anne also revealed that she and her team had decided that the 2018 Emerging Leaders Dialogue will be held in Kuching.  

ELD Asia will also be organising its First ‘Sarawak Dialogue’ this year in Kuching.

He said Princess Anne was very much impressed with the prevailing unity and harmony of the people in Sarawak which he described as a model for a “small United Nation” and a model for Commonwealth countries.

“I feel very proud when she says that Sarawak is a model,” he said to the applause of the 70 or so students from all racial and religious backgrounds all across UK who came to the dinner.

He added Sarawak was given a special mention at the dinner and he was awarded a special royal pin by Princess Anne whom he said had expressed keen interest in Sarawak’s flora and fauna.

Abang Johari told the students that the future of Sarawak lied in the ability of the state to capitalise on the power of the Internet and use its abundant power resources, hydro power from its dams in particular, wisely to transform Sarawak from a traditional to a digital economy.

He said Sarawak with a small population of 2.8 million people had a small consumer base but he expressed confidence that Sarawak’s economy could be changed if it was able to reach out to the three billion consumers in Asia through Internet connectivity.