BEIJING: The Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg arrived early yesterday morning in the capital city of China for a five-day working visit. He will also visit a few other Chinese cities to further explore new technologies in light rail, train and building construction.
Upon his arrival, Johari and his entourage proceeded to the China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. where the discussion focused on the development of an efficient and emission-free public transportation system. “Bes ides f rom looking at Europe, Sarawak also wish to share in the wide experience and expertise of China in urban transport, particularly in the development of hydrogen-powered train,” he said.
Last October, Johari led a delegation to Europe which included a visit to Germany whereby he visited the facilities that manufacture hydrogen train and hydrogen gas.
Despite hydrogen and electrification being the new technology, he was confident that Sarawak has tremendous potential in this sector because of the abundance of water as feedstock and the production of clean energy as the worldwide trend towards the reduction of carbon footprint and increase of carbon credit. As part of the two-day itinerary here, the delegation visited China Development Bank to gain insights into the banks’ operations and services.
After that, Johari visited the China Railway Construction and Corporation Limited (CRCC) to test ride the hydrogen-powered tourist train and middle to slowspeed Maglev train test facility at Tangshan in Hebei Province near here.
Among the members of the entourage i s Tan Sr i Datuk Amar Haji Abdul Aziz Hussain, Chairman of Sarawak Economic De v e lopment Corporat ion (SEDC), which is the implementing agency for the proposed greater Kuching LRT project.
