Lim, quoting figures published in The Edge Malaysia on October 21, noted that Penang only has 40 unsold shop, 163 residential and 25 industrial units in the second quarter of this year.

“Other cities may suffer a glut but Penang is not facing this problem and may even be facing a shortage due to the state government's efforts in focusing on the services sector that employs almost 100 per cent local workers with high paying jobs,” he said in a press statement issued today.

In the report in The Edge, the number of property that were unsold in Penang was much lower to other states such Selangor, Johor, Perak, Malacca and even Kedah.

“This showed that the state government's efforts to focus on the services sector, that started two years ago, is beginning to show results,” Lim said in the statement.

Penang was named as one of 31 future global business process outsourcing (BPO) hubs by KPMPG, which is one of the state government's focus.

“By leveraging on the existing advantage of Penang as a world-class manufacturing sector, it has helped to catalyse the growth of the informational technology (IT)and services industry in Penang,” Lim said.

As a result, many multinational companies (MNC) in the electronics industries have not only parked their manufacturing hub here, but have made Penang their administrative hub with shared service outsourcing (SSO) operations in human resources, procurement, data processing, credit transactions, finance and accounting and IT.

To stimulate further growth, the Penang state government has also set aside 17 acres of land in Bayan Baru and Bayan Lepas to be the Penang BPO Hub.

Lim noted that top companies such as Air Asia, Wilmar and Citigroup have opened their SSO and BPO operations here.

“The setting up of BPO hub will help the state to attract and retain talent in Penang,” Lim said.

He added it is also in line with Penang's economic development and investment strategy.