GEORGE TOWN, March 15 — The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) facilitated an investment of RM13.67 billion for Penang last year, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said the investments had also created more than 14,000 job opportunities in 2023.
These investments form part of the total investments of RM71.9 billion that Penang recorded last year, he said.
“It cannot be denied that out of the RM71.9 billion in total investments, RM61.7 billion or 85.81 per cent are foreign direct investments (FDI) in the manufacturing sector,” he said during an Appreciation Ceremony for Companies Involved in the Centre of Excellence (CoE) Programme, NCER Technology Innovation Centre (NTIC) today.
He said these investment figures indirectly underlined foreign investors’ confidence in the potential of Penang.
He thanked NCIA for facilitating part of the investments inflow and hope that the agency will continue to increase Penang’s attractiveness to investors especially in other sectors such as technology development and skilled talent.
He said NTIC is an initiative that focused on activities related to research, design, technology, innovation and commercialisation.
“The NTIC building, developed by NCIA, in Bayan Lepas is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year,” he said.
He is confident that the NTIC will contribute towards the development of the innovation and technology ecosystem among small medium enterprises (SME) and that it will also support the development of highly skilled workers to meet the needs of the industry.
“NTIC will also be the main platform that could attract high-tech investors to NCER, particularly Penang, through collaborations with local SMEs and multinational companies,” he said.
According to NCIA chief executive Mohamad Haris Kader Sultan, the agency worked in close cooperation with the federal government, state government and state government agencies to facilitate investments into Penang.
“Investments are noted to include the focus sectors in the NCER Strategic Development Plan such as manufacturing, agribusiness, logistics, digital economy and tourism,” he said.
He said NCER’s people-based talent development programme benefited more than 4,955 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since it was implemented in 2019 and created more than 16,100 job opportunities in Penang.
Meanwhile, Chow witnessed the certificate presentation ceremony to five companies involved in the Centre of Excellence under the NTIC programme.
The five companies, namely GF Technology Sdn Bhd, Elliance Sdn Bhd, IME Technology Sdn Bhd, Visionlytics Sdn Bhd and Easy Pack Machinery Sdn Bhd received certificates of appointment as Center of Excellence (CoE) providers for NTIC.
“A total of 12 NTIC CoE providers from Penang have been appointed since the launch in May 2023 with a total of RM73.67 million investment recorded,” Chow said.
