THE electrical and electronics (E&E) industry continues to be the state’s key pillar, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Chow said Penang has been doing extremely well in the E&E sector, especially for the last few years despite the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the world.
“As we can see nowadays, Penang continues to stand tall as the Silicon Valley of the East and home to many multinational corporations (MNCs), particularly in the E&E and semiconductor sectors.
“This shows the E&E sector continues to attract a very high value in investment, especially from the MNCs and also large local companies (LLCs) as well.
“And this has impacted us in a way that we need to speed up our efforts to provide more land for industrial development.
“Our talent development in the state also needs to speed up because of the several investments in this sector that will create over 30,000 job opportunities in the next few years.
“So, we need to make sure that Penang is able to meet the demand of the industry in terms of talent need,” said Chow during an online meeting with the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eurocham Malaysia) at his office in Komtar today.
Also present was EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eurocham Malaysia) chief executive officer Sven Schneider.
Chow added that the state is also optimistic that it could continue to grow in the E&E sector and would be ready with more industrial land to meet with the demand over the next few years.
“We are also looking at the various infrastructure needs to meet with the increasing demand and investment in Penang,” he added.
On a separate matter, Chow said Penang aims to meet or surpass a gross domestic product (GDP) forecast growth of 5.4% by 2025.
“As Penang recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic health crisis, the state is cautiously optimistic that a gradual economic recovery is on the cards – thanks to sound economic fundamentals and a robust manufacturing sector, and supported by a recovering services sector.
“Thus, we expect the state to record a GDP forecast growth of 5.4% by 2025.
“The state government is also on track to build a resilient economy, anchored by and building on the strength of our manufacturing hub, services and the past 50 years of industrialisation success.
“Moving forward, we want to continue build our strength on E&E sector, foster new digital investments, boost the economy in Penang and also to realise the state’s Penang2030 vision of ‘A Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation’,” he added.
Among other issues discussed during the one-hour online meeting were green energy, Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, talent pool, job opportunities, traffic congestion, 5G technology and many others.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad
Video by Chan Kok Kuan