SEBERANG PERAI, Sept 28 — A RM55 million international school opened at Batu Kawan here today with an enrolment of about 200 students as a start.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the school, GEMS International School of Pearl City, is the first international school to open in Batu Kawan, where the market is expected to “explode in growth”.
“I would like to congratulate GEMS for being ahead of the curve by opening at a location where its economy is expected to explode, not only grow, with more international investments coming in here,” he said at the official opening of the school at Pearl City here.
He added that the opening of the new school augurs well for both the school and Seberang Perai as it would mean the state has an added advantage when driving investments and investors to consider Seberang Perai and Batu Kawan as a choice destination.
Lim said other international investments are slated to follow GEMS’ footsteps that included an international university, hospital and a five star hotel.
“For a location to become a choice location, we need a five-star hotel, international schools, universities and hospitals so we are having Hull University, an international university, opening here soon, and an international hospital, Colombia Hospital from US that is also planning to come here,” he said, adding that the mainland side of the state now has a five-star hotel called The Light.
Lim said the amount of investments committed to Batu Kawan is growing by the day and the sums pledged do not only run into billions of ringgit.
“We are looking at billions of USD in investments that is committed to Batu Kawan and this is a huge market for GEMS to capture as they are the first to open here,” he said.
According to GEMS International School Malaysia chief executive officer Tom Collin, the first phase of the school has the capacity to take in up to 1,500 students.
The school’s current enrolment is about 200 students and the school aims to ultimately have a capacity to take in about 3,000 students in future.
