Amid a spat with Putrajaya over federal assistance to draw investors to Penang, the state government will boost its efforts to draw more Singaporean investors following its recent partnership with the republic’s Temasek Holdings to develop a RM11.3 billion business and a technology hub. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is leading a two-day investment mission to Singapore tomorrow, said Penang wanted to sell the message that the northern Malaysian state was an ideal location, especially in terms of human talent. Speaking in an interview in Singapore with Bloomberg TV on its First Up programme this morning, he said Penang offered a cost-effective and talent-laden alternative that could complement what Singapore had to offer. “What we hope is to have our partners like Temasek bring in the big names into Penang,” he said on air. “We feel we can complement what Singapore requires in terms of manufacturing and services, and of course a lifestyle that they are accustomed to,” he said. Stressing that human talent was the “new oil of the 21st century”, he said Penang had it in abundance. Calling Penang the most liveable city in Malaysia, he added that “we feel that Penang has all the conditions necessary for foreign expats and investors to do well.” The Penang government, through its development arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC), inked a memorandum of understanding with Temasek and Economic Development Innovations Singapore Pte Ltd on May 23. PDC and Temasek are forming a joint venture company to develop the Penang Technology Park (PITP) and BPO Prime complex in Batu Kawan and Bayan Baru respectively. EDIS is providing project management services for the venture. He said KPMG’s Exploring Global Frontier Report in 2009 identified Penang as one of the 31 emerging BPO (business process outsourcing) hub cities in the world. He said food edible oil giant Wilmar had set up a shared services outsourcing hub in Penang, while Citibank also has a global credit transactions hub that processed 25 billion transactions annually with a value of US$6 trillion (RM19.7 trillion). Speaking at a seminar on “Penang investment opportunities” later today, Lim said Singapore was Malaysia’s largest export market with a total volume of RM100 billion in 2013. In a statement, Lims press secretary Cheong Yin Fan said the purpose of the investment mission was to meet the Singapore business community and relevant investors. A road show to invite tenders for the state’s RM27 billion public transport plan would be held in Singapore, she said. Ahead of the mission, Lim will tonight deliver a key note address on “The 3rd Penang; BPO Prime & Penang International Technology Park (PITP)” at a dinner, and hold a dialogue with the members of the Penang diaspora in Singapore this evening. – October 14, 2014. - See more at: themalaysianinsider/malaysia/article/penang-woos-singapore-investors-following-temasek-deal#sthash.yJ0Y52YE.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 07:05:30 +0000
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