PENANG is receiving an additional 111,925 doses of Covid-19 vaccines this month (July) under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
With the additional doses, Penang will receive a total of 703,448 doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the month of July.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Penang has sufficient capacity to administer the doses of vaccines.
The United States ambassador to Malaysia Brian D. McFeeters and his team paid a virtual courtesy call on Chow this morning. Joining Chow and McFeeters were political counselor Aqueelah Johnson, political officer Bryn West, economic officer Michael Marcous and senior political specialist Ravi Manickam.
During the meeting, Chow said Penang hoped to return to normalcy after completing the NIP.
“We are focusing on the vaccination efforts and getting the public protected. We hope to complete the NIP by the end of October this year. Attention is given to public health,” he said.
Chow was also asked about investments in Penang.
McFeeters said he and his team had an interesting virtual meeting with Datuk Seri Lee Kah Choon, the special advisor to the Chief Minister of Penang on economic affairs.
“How can we create opportunities for the next generation of United States’ companies to come to Penang?” McFeeters asked.
Chow said Penang has a good track record in manufacturing foreign direct investments (FDI), particularly in the last two years.
“The announcement of (FDI) figures is one thing, the realisation of the investments is another. We are glad that we did well on both scores.
“The state’s investment realisation rate is about 85% to 90%. This means that investment announcements are not just merely announcements, but they are followed through investment realisation such as signing, submission of plans and construction works.
“We have factories which completed the process within 10 to 12 months. With our track record, we can ensure investors that they can go into production and export 12 to 15 months after they decide to invest in Penang. We hope to maintain the achievements,” he said.
Chow said InvestPenang would continue to engage potential investors through virtual meetings since the Covid-19 pandemic does not allow travelling now.
“We can still talk about the suitable investments in Penang even with the travel restriction,” he explained.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Law Suun Ting