PENANG has already recorded RM8.85 billion of total approved manufacturing investment in Malaysia in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.
investPenang chief executive officer Datuk Loo Lee Lian said Penang could achieve the RM10 billion mark this year.
“We have already achieved RM8.8 billion for the three months. If you ask me if we can achieve RM10 billion for the rest of the year, I think the figure is quite achievable.
“We are quite optimistic, but we will still remain very cautious. With the trade war between the United States and China, everything is unpredictable,” she told a press conference after the opening of the 5th Penang Global Business Services Conference at Hotel Equatorial Penang today.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow concurred by saying: “We are ‘cautiously optimistic’.
His reply drew laughter from the crowd.
Earlier in his speech, Chow said that the Finance Ministry had announced the Malaysian Economy Second Quarter 2019 report on Aug 21.
“We are still waiting for the figures to be announced to see how we fared in the second quarter (Q2) of this year.
“The figure we achieved in Q1 of this year (RM8.8 billion) was an all-time record. It will be difficult for us to emulate that in Q2.
“I will be happy if we can get a few more billions (of Ringgit) to add to the figure (that we had achieved for Q1.
“We hope that we will have a good result by the end of this year,” he added.
Also present was investPenang director Datuk Seri Lee Kah Choon.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Darwina Mohd Daud