The Penang State Government is targeting to achieve RM6.1 billion investments for this year, which is 50% of the record RM 12.2 billion in 2010 and topped the investment charts for the first time in Malaysia. A lower figure has been set to attract high value-added, high-tech, knowledge based companies that engender high-income, technology transfer and innovative industries. Additionally the Gartner September 2010 report indicates that worldwide semiconductor revenue growth is expected to decrease from 31.5% in 2010 to 4.6% in 2011. This means that the growth rate will taper off.

At the same time, there is a need to “digest” (consolidate) the record investments last year so that the workers and skills shortage engendered does not overspill and damage the industry. According to the latest MIDA, the first three months of 2011 saw a total of RM1.8 billion approved from 20 projects for Penang.

Penang accounts for 15 percent of the total investments approved for the country of RM12.2 billion during January to March 2011. The FDI approved for Penang amounting to RM 991 million constitute 21 percent of the total FDI approved for Malaysia. Penang currently placed fourth in Malaysia.

In 2010, Penang’s RM12.2 billion investments are expected to generate 21,000 new jobs. With the current full employment situation in the State, the State authorities have to deal with various challenges such human resource and SME (small and medium enterprise) development.

In response to these challenges, the State Government, through investPenang, has initiated several programmes like the SME Market Advisory, Resource and Training (SMART) Centre and the Career Assistance & Training (CAT) Centre to address the worker shortage. The SMART Centre was set up specifically to facilitate all SMEs in the State to expand their business through the provision of various activities carried out by the centre.

Further the state government is also collaborating closely with the PSDC to address the skills shortages. Establishing the Penang Science Council has also demonstrated a commitment to train and retrain new talents as well as establish Penang as a centre of excellence for science and technology.

The CAT Centre that was set up in early 2009 to assist the retrenched workers and the unemployed has been recently streamlined with a revised role and responsibility to attract and retain talents. The mission of CAT Centre is to rebrand Penang as the place to work and live, with a new motto “My Penang, My Workplace” emphasising opportunity, economics and liveability.

Penang can lead again by not only be a sweatshop but also the smartshop of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia.

Press Conference Statement By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng After The investPenang Board Meeting In Penang On 19 May 2011.

——– Malay Translation ———-

Kenyataan Media oleh Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng pada 19 May 2011 di Invest Penang:

Pulau Pinang menyasarkan RM6.1 bilion Pelaburan untuk tahun 2011 bagi menarik tambah nilai yang lebih tinggi, berteknologi tinggi, industri berasaskan pengetahuan yang dapat menghasilkan pendapatan yang lumayan, perpindahan teknologi serta industri yang inovatif.

Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang menyasarkan untuk mencapai RM6.1 bilion dalam pelaburan untuk tahun ini di mana 50% daripada RM12.2 bilion pada tahun 2010 dan menduduki tangga pertama dalam pelaburan untuk pertama kalinya di Malaysia. Angka yang lebih rendah telah ditetapkan untuk menarik tambah nilai yang lebih tinggi, berteknologi tinggi, industri berasaskan pengetahuan yang dapat menjana pendapatan yang lebih tinggi, perpindahan teknologi dan industri yang inovatif. Tambahan daripada itu, laporan Gartner pada September 2010 menunjukkan bahawa pertumbuhan pendapatan semi konduktor dunia dijangka akan menurun daripada 31.5% pada tahun 2010 ke 4.6% pada tahun 2011. ini bermakna kadar pertumbuhan akan lebih meruncing.

Pada masa yang sama, terdapat keperluan untuk memperkukuhkan (menggabung atau menyatukan) rekod pelaburan pada tahun lalu agar kekurangan tenaga kerja dan pekerja mahir tidak akan melimpah ruah dan merosakkan industri. Menurut laporan terbaru MIDA, pada tiga bulan pertama tahun 2011 telah menyaksikan keseluruhan RM1.8 bilion telah diluluskan daripada 20 projek untuk Pulau Pinang.

Pulau Pinang menyumbang 15 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan pelaburan yang telah diluluskan untuk negara iaitu RM12.2 bilion dari Januari hingga Mac 2011. FDI yang telah diluluskan untuk Pulau Pinang sebanyak RM991 juta merupakan 21 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan FDI yang telah diluluskan untuk Malaysia. Ketika ini Pulau Pinang menduduki tempat keempat di Malaysia.

Pada tahun 2010, RM12.2 bilion pelaburan di Pulau Pinang dijangka akan dapat menjana 21, 000 peluang pekerjaan baru. Dengan situasi negeri yang sifar pengangguran masa kini, pihak berkuasa negeri harus berhadapan dengan pelbagai cabaran seperti sumber manusia dan pembangunan SME (perusahaan kecil dan sederhana).

Dalam menangani cabaran ini, Kerajaan Negeri melalui investPenang telah merancang beberapa program seperti penubuhan Penasihat Pemasaran SME, Pusat Sumber dan Latihan (SMART) dan Pusat Kerjaya dan Latihan (CAT) untuk mengatasi masalah kekurangan pekerja. Pusat SMART ditubuhkan secara khusus untuk memudahkan semua SME di negeri ini untuk mengembangkan perniagaan mereka melalui penyediaan kepelbagaian aktiviti yang dilakukan oleh pusat tersebut.

Selain itu, Kerajaan Negeri juga turut bekerjasama secara erat dengan PSDC dalam usaha untuk mengatasi masalah kekurangan tenaga mahir. Pusat Pembangunan Kemahiran Pulau Pinang (PSDC) juga telah menunjukkan komitmen untuk melatih bakat-bakat baru serta menetapkan Pulau Pinang sebagai pusat kecemerlangan untuk perkembangan sains dan teknologi.

Pusat Kerjaya dan Latihan (CAT) yang ditubuhkan pada awal tahun 2009 bagi membantu para penganggur mereka yang diberhentikan telah digubal semula peranan dan tanggungjawabnya bagi menarik dan mengekalkan bakat sedia ada. Misi pusat CAT adalah untuk menjenamakan semula Pulau Pinang sebagai tempat yang sesuai untuk bekerja dan hidup dengan moto baru ‘My Penang, My Workplace’ dengan menitikberatkan peluang, ekonomi dan taraf hidup.

Pulau Pinang boleh kembali memimpin dengan bukan sahaja sebagai ‘sweatshop’ tetapi juga ‘smartshop’ dalam industri perkilangan di Malaysia.

————- Chinese Translation ————

槟州首席部长林冠英于2011年5月19日在投资槟城董事会议后发表声明：

槟州政府订下目标，希望在2011年能获得61亿令吉的投资额，以吸引高附加价值、高科技、重视知识基础的公司，以促进高收入、科技转移和革新工业。

槟州政府订下目标，希望今年能够招来61亿令吉的投资额，那就是2010年让槟州全马居冠122亿令吉投资额的50%。我们把目标放小，是为了要吸引高附加价值、高科技、重视知识基础的公司，以促进高收入、科技转移和革新工业。美国市场分析机构高纳德(Gartner)在2010年9月的报告预测，全世界的半导体收入增长率将从2010年的31.5%减少至2011年的4.6%。这意味着这个领域的成长率将逐渐降低。

同时， 我们有必须“巩固” 去年的投资记录，以让员工及技术短缺的问题不会扩大而破坏我们的工业。根据最新的大马工业发展局的记录，2011年首三个月，当局在槟城共批准了20个价值18亿令吉的项目。

在2011年1月至3月期间，槟城所获投资额占了全国总投资额122亿令吉的15%。 槟城的外国直接投资为9亿9100万令吉，占了我国外国直接投资总额的21%。槟城目前排名第四。

2010年，槟城所获的122亿令吉预料能制造 2万1000个就业机会。目前槟州处于充分就业，州政府要处理其它各种具挑战性的问题如：人力资源及中小型企业发展。

为了应付上述挑战，州政府通过投资槟城，主动发起各种计划如中小型企业市场咨 询、资源与培训中心（SMART）、就业及培训（CAT）中心来应付员工短缺的问题。SMART中心成立的目的就是要协助州内的中小型企业，通过该中心主办的各种活动来拓展他们的业务。

此外，州政府也与槟州技术发展机构紧密合作，应付员工短缺的问题。 我们也成立槟州科学理事会，展现我们立志培训及再培训人才，同时打造槟城成为卓越科学与技术中心。

CAT中心成立于2009年初 ，以协助被裁退及失业工人，目前，我们已经为该中心重新定位，让它担起吸引人才、留住人才的责任。CAT中心的任务就是为槟州重新打造品牌，让槟州成为一个适合工作和居住的地方，槟城的新口号将是“我的槟城，工作的好地方”，强调机会、经济及活力。

槟城不只因成为血汗工厂而领先，也要成为马来西亚制造业的精明工厂。

林冠英

Eight Measures To Transform Penang From A Sweat Shop To A Smart Shop And Reinvent The Economy For Sustainable Growth And Prosperity.

The theme of the 4th Asia Economic Summit of “Reinventing Asian Economies for Sustainable Growth & Prosperity” is apt and timely following the global financial crisis that has threatened both the growth and prosperity of both developed country and emerging economies. There is also a need to reinvent as the conditions that made prosperity and growth possible either do not exist or are not applicable any more.

The most popular measures to counter the current recession includes an expansionary budget and government guarantees for financial institutions. However we need to look beyond the recession and be bold enough to undertake fundamental reforms and reinvent the economy to allow Asia is to continue enjoying sustainable growth and prosperity. Asia is too diverse to be presented in a singular case. So allow me to present the perspective of Penang, the problems, successes and failures of a middle income state.

Penang is a key trading post that successfully evolved into one of the largest electronics manufacturing hub in the world during the last century. Penang’s success from the 70s to the 80s made Penang the leading state in Malaysia with GDP per capita of RM 28,851, double that of Malaysia at RM 19,189 for 2008. Despite being the second smallest state in Malaysia and with a population of only 1.4 million, Penang’s exports alone amounted to 27% of Malaysia’s total exports.

There were five common characteristics of successful growth economies identified in “The Growth Report” by A. Michael Spence were:-

1. Openness to the global economy in knowledge and trade;
2. Macroeconomic stability;
3. A futuristic vision exemplified by high savings and investments;
4. Reliance on markets and prices to ensure efficient allocation of resources; and
5. A leadership committed towards growth and inclusion with a competent administration.

However failure to adhere to these five characteristics or mismanagement and abuse of powers caused Penang to stagnate since the final years of the 20th century. This economic lethargy and indecisive leadership resulted in an alarming drop in its position as a leading investment location of choice. Penang’s total investment dropped to No.5 amongst states in Malaysia to RM 4.77 billion in 2007.

The sense of drift and overwhelming yearning for change were some of the factors that contributed to the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections that swept the ruling BN coalition from power. Upon taking power, my new government quickly concluded that the previous economic strategy of relying on low-cost labour, easy availability of skilled labour, cheap land and efficient logistics either do not exist or were no longer sufficient to achieve rapid growth.

Penang was a middle-income state trapped between the low-cost competitors in poor countries who are competitive in mature or sunset industries and high-wage innovators in rich countries who are competitive in new or sunrise industries. There was a need for a new holistic approach that links Penang’s unique logistic position, its scenic beauty, rich and cultural heritage, social harmony, even good food with our talented human resources and strong work ethic.

There was a need to reinvent our economic settings to fully utilize Penang’s knowledge workers – the energy, expertise and entrepreneurship of our people to transform Penang from a sweat-shop to a smart-shop. Eight key measures are necessary.

1. Institution building has been identified as the source of growth and there is a need to respect rule of law and good governance based on CAT(competency, accountability and transparency);

2. A sound education system promoting a culture of excellence that is relevant to the demands of industry and economy. Emphasis naturally centers on ICT and computer knowledge. To facilitate the creation of more computer literate knowledge workers, Penang has launched a new initiative to be the first wifi state in Malaysia where wireless services will be provided free and wimax at affordable rates in 2 years time;

3. A Civil society encompassing the triple transformation of political transformation to achieve political equality, respect for human rights, supremacy of people’s power and rule of law; economic transformation that provides equal opportunities and relies on the energy, expertise and enterprise of our human resources; ethical transformation that establishes integrity in public life, checks corruption and pursue socio-economic justice of an equitable share in the economy’s prosperity.

4. Encouraging creativity, innovation, research and development;

5. Establishing international benchmarks that makes development sustainable – where resources that are used today in a manner that are still available for our future generations. Penang was voted as the 10th most livable city in Asia amongst 254 cities throughout Asia;

6. Trusting in the ability of any state’s greatest resource – our human resources by investing in retraining and human development;

7. The need to reinvent government towards a government that works better but cost less. The explosion in the number of civil servants and public spending on the civil service without a corresponding rise in quality of services requires the adoption of best business practices. Such spending must be curbed not only to increase savings but ensure that the government gets back a return of a dollar for every dollar spent.

8. Adopting a public-private partnership model of a win-win formula where public interest is upheld without sacrificing the private sector’s necessity for profits. Open tenders and capping the private sector profits at a reasonable rate of return will ensure the protection of public interest without sacrificing efficiency and productivity.

Penang’s experiment in these 8 new measures have shown some success with the declining investments flow reversing to rise to RM 8 billion for the first 9 months of this year as compared to RM 4.77 billion for the whole of 2007. Making Penang a smart shop will go a long way towards transforming Penang an international city that is a location of choice for investors, a destination of choice for tourists and a habitat of choice for those who desire sustainable living.

The Penang state government welcomes the signing of the MOU between PDC and DK ENC to build a US$ 100 million golf course in Batu Kawan as a testimony of the confidence of Korean investors in Penang’s future in spite of the global financial crisis. By proceeding ahead with the golf project during such uncertain times, Korean investors have also signalled their belief in the new government’s commitment to transforming Penang into an international city.

To transform Penang into an international city, we want participation from all nationalities. We have investors from many countries. But we need to work harder to get more investors from some countries such as Korea, without which Penang can not claim to be a truly international city.

Korea has achieved tremendous success in growing its economy from a poor war-torn state to a developed nation. The success of Korea can be seen by its per capita GNP of only US$130 as compared to Malaysia’s US$350 in 1966. Korea’s GNP per capita is now more than US$18,000 as compared to Malaysia’s US$6,000/-. From almost three times better off than Korea 42 years ago, Malaysia is now three times worse than Korea.

The remarkable economic success of Korea was achieved without any natural resources such as oil and commodities, except for its people. There is much to learn from the success of Korea’s economic transformation based on a culture of excellence, a strong work ethic, openness to new ideas and mastery of technology.

Penang bears some similarities in that we are also without natural resources. Penang’s success was built on our human resources and our faith in the ability of the people. Korea’s GDP of US$982 billion in 2007 comprising of 57% services and 40% manufacturing mirrors Penang’s small US$7.5 billion economy. Penang hopes not only to attract investors and tourists to the beautiful city of Penang but also learn how we can replicate Korea’s success.

Everyone knows that Korea’s success does not rest in economic performance alone but also in its popular pop culture, famous throughout Asia, and its sporting athletes. Korean lady golfers are the best in the world reflecting the Korean love for golf.

This US$ 100 million project by DK ENC, which has a track record of building golf courses not only in Korea but also in Ho Chi Minh city, will not only give opportunity for Koreans to indulge in your love for golf but also offer employment and business opportunities for Penangnites. This US$ 100 million mixed development golf project when completed in 2013, will be the most expensive in Penang.

To make Penang a unique attractive destination, we will be taking measures to improve safety and security on one of the safest cities in Malaysia. We will also be improving on traffic and transportation systems as well as communications facilities. Penang will be the first wifi state in Malaysia when our free wireless and affordable wimax services are completed in 2 years. By then anyone can be connected to the Internet any time, any place and any where in Penang for free.

Penang is proud to be the only state promoting Korea in Malaysia. We organised the Korean Food Fest last month and will be organising a Korean cultural performance at the end of this year. By heading a 52-member business delegation to participate in the Asia Pacific Tourism and Investment Conference during the middle of the global financial crisis shows that Penang is committed in welcoming Korean investors or tourists and sincere in being your friend. We offer our friendship and co-operation towards greater prosperity together.

(Speech By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng During The Signing Of The Memorandum Of Understanding(MOU) Between Penang Development Corporation (PDC) And DK ENC Company Ltd In Seoul, Korea On 30.10.2008 Released In Penang On 1.11.2008)