GEORGE TOWN, Nov 8 ― Penang will still not depend on federal funding despite the change in the country’s government, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said Pakatan Harapan’s general election victory did not automatically mean the state should expect a surfeit of allocations.
Instead, Chow told the state to focus more on public-private professional partnership (PPPP) to achieve the Penang 2030 vision.
“We want to break away from the old model of federal-state type of relationship,” he said in a press conference after the opening of NEX Penang Conference 2018 here.
The CM said the model of federal assistance was no longer viable for Penang, and required the state to look elsewhere to power its development goals.
Chow said private sector collaborations were an important component, especially in a state driven by the manufacturing industry.
“Partnerships improve all that we do and some small medium enterprises in Penang have become large local companies,” he said, before saying this must bring added value.
He also told local industry players to innovate amid the current climate of disruption.
“We need to think out of the box and be innovative, even giants can fall if they don’t embrace change and technology,” he said.
NEX Penang 2018 is a three-day conference on leadership in the corporate world.
