CHIEF Minister Chow Kon Yeow visited the Penang SME Centre and some of the tenants’ offices in the Bayan Lepas Industrial Park today.
“The state government is glad that it can provide an incubator for the SMEs. They are the foundation for the industry in Penang.
“We want to assist and nurture the SMEs to move up the value chain,” Chow said after being briefed on the centre by investPenang officials and some of the tenants on their operations.
investPenang chief executive officer Datuk Loo Lee Lian and manager Lee Yoeu Chek conducted the briefing on Penang SME Centre while some of the tenants were invited to brief on their operations.
The tenants’ representatives who spoke were T.W. Teng (LSP Advance), S.B. Tan (NLYtech Solution), Visithira Barathi (FCA Service Support), Alice Ch’ng Hooi Hoon (Togun Malaysia) and Kali Selvan Subramaniam (Infinecs System).
Interestingly, Togun Malaysia is involved with the health industry, producing hydrogen drinking water and treating industrial wastewater. It is awaiting approval from the Health Ministry.
When asked why they chose Penang to set up their SME, Ch’ng, who is the operations manager, smilingly said: “Penang has the lowest water tariff in Malaysia.”
The answer drew laughter from all present at the briefing.
Also present were Penang SME Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Sofi Osman, Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai, Bukit Tambun assemblyman Goh Choon Aik, investPenang executive Ang Kit Sin, Togun TG Holdings chief executive officer Ben Khor and chief financial officer Angelin Lee.
The four-storey Penang SME Centre, owned by Penang Development Corporation, was built at a cost of RM40 million in 2011.
One of its key objectives is also to create a ‘Made in Penang’ branding for Penang supply chains.
Loo said local tenants in the Penang SME Centre enjoy subsidised rental rates to help them grow and reach a certain level before they move to the SME Village in Batu Kawan.
The rental rate varies for empty lot, fully-furnished office unit and basic renovated unit.
She added that the Penang SME Centre has a total floor space of 166,000sq ft with a nett rental area of 128,000sq ft.
There are 12 existing tenants, with each renting a floor space of between 1,500sq ft and 13,000sq ft.
The tenants are LSP Advance, Innogrity, Togun Malaysia, Macrogine, NLYtech Solution, Fintexs Technologies, Thunder Software Technologies Malaysia, FCA Services Support (Malaysia), Hadi Engineering Solution, Advantest Sales & Support, Infinecs Systems and TT Vision Technologies.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud
Video by Chan Kok Kuan