| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
PENANG, Malaysia : Enhancing Penang's connectivity to take advantage of its closeness to neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Thailand and boosting the tourism sectors - these are some areas which InvestPenang's new Chairman and Chief Executive Lee Kah Choon wants to concentrate on.
InvestPenang - the lead agency in attracting investments for the state - was recently in the centre of a storm because of the controversial appointment of its new chairman Lee.
Lee had quit his former party Gerakan, which is a component of the Barisan Nasional, after the Chinese-based party failed to secure any seat in the Penang elections.
Lee's decision to join Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's team upset his former party bosses, but he is optimistic it won't hinder his work.
"I think the environment is big enough to accommodate everyone and if we share the same objective, I am sure we... (can) work together towards that goal," said Lee.
To achieve that, Penang's economic team believes it has to move up the value chain and create high-end jobs in new sectors like biotechnology and the computer sciences.
Said Dr P Ramasamy, Second Deputy Chief Minister of Penang: "While I don't have the immediate figures for employment, there is a high level of unemployment in Penang. This has to do with the nature of growth in Penang in the last 30 years. So in order to have employment and the trickle down effect,... we need to provide growth and Penang must grow. We are seeing how we can cooperate with the Federal government to bring in foreign investments.
One way for Malaysia to show even greater strength in the economic development sphere is to bring about the success of the different economic corridors which the government plans to develop - in Penang's case, the northern corridor together with Perak, Kedah and Perlis.
"I am more interested in the complementary aspect of it... As far as the states in the Northern Corridor are concerned, we have advantages as well as disadvantages. In Penang, our connectivity is good and that is why we are going to develop into a transportation hub for the whole corridor," said Lee.
A bigger challenge is to expand Penang's connectivity with the rest of the world.
"People want to fly to Penang directly rather than going through KL, that is also important. The frequency of flights directly to Penang, say from Chennai, these are the things which we are trying to focus now," said Dr Ramasamy.
There is also the need to solve some of the immediate infrastructure problems like the traffic on the Penang Bridge.
Penang's ferry service is an important mode of transportation for those who travel regularly from the mainland to areas like Butterworth and beyond. In fact, Penang's ferry service complements the Penang Bridge which travellers find very congested most of the time. So the state government is planning to further improve the ferry service to make it even more accessible to motorists.
The state government will also be addressing some municipal issues like flooding problems in new areas where industries are expected to spring up in the next five years. - CNA /ls
|
