GEORGE TOWN, Nov 8 — The Penang state government has set up a business and investment park council to come up with plans to upgrade industrial parks in the state.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the industrial parks in the state, in Bayan Lepas, Batu Kawan and Penang Science Park, lacked proper facilities and infrastructure.
“Our industrial parks do not give good impressions for first time investors who come here to look at it, I see that we still have room for improvement,” he said during a Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) dialogue session on Penang 2030 today.
He said facilities such as security, proper lighting and amenities such as availability of eateries for workers were still lacking.
“I hope the council, which is spearheaded by Penang Development Corporation and the local councils, will come up with proposals to improve the industrial parks in the state,” he said.
He said the council could consider including industrial players as stakeholders when coming up with plans to upgrade the industrial parks.
MICCI Penang branch chairman Michel Van Crombrugge said industrial parks in Penang needed improvement in terms of transportation and infrastructure.
“The industry would want it to have facilities for the workers such as public transportation to get them to work, places for them to eat and safety features to ensure their safety,” he said.
Earlier, there were also discussions on placing more focus on developing Seberang Perai, the mainland side of the state that was often overlooked in the past.
Chow said now that reclamation works are proceeding on the north side of the port on the mainland, the state can look at turning Butterworth into a logistics hub with Penang Sentral as the catalyst.
“We need to harness our waterfront so we are looking at the connectivity between the Butterworth waterfront and Swettenham Pier on the island,” he said
He said the state has been trying to push through the idea of introducing water taxis and faster ferry services to connect both waterfronts.
“We can harness both waterfronts as a new growth area for the state,” he said.
