Penang Chief Minister YAB Chow Kon Yeow
The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) through the cooperation of the Penang State Government has facilitated an investment of RM 13.67 billion and more than 14,000 job opportunities in 2023.
Penang Chief Minister, YAB Chow Kon Yeow said the encouraging value of investment was evidence of investors’ confidence in the long-term prospects offered in Penang and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in general.
“I would like to thank NCIA for helping to facilitate investment, thus supporting the encouraging investment growth recorded by Penang last year.
“In that regard, the State Government also welcomes NCIA’s efforts to further increase Penang’s attractiveness to investors beyond the main sectors such as Electrical and Electronics (E&E) and Machinery and Equipment (M&E), particularly in technology development and skilled talent.
“For example, programmes such as the NCER Technology Innovation Center (NTIC) which aims to strengthen the industrial ecosystem and talent to create innovative activities, research and development (R&D) and increase the value chain for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which will further strengthen Penang’s position as a technology and innovation hub in the region,” he said.
He said this during the Appreciation Ceremony for Companies Involved in the Center of Excellence (CoE) Programme, NCER Technology Innovation Center (NTIC) after chairing the Penang State Steering Committee Meeting.
The Chief Executive of NCIA, Mohamad Haris Kader Sultan said, the success of recording an investment of RM13.67 billion was the result of close and continuous cooperation with stakeholders including the Federal Government, State Government and state government agencies.
“Investments are noted to include the focus sectors in the NCER Strategic Development Plan such as manufacturing, agribusiness, logistics, digital economy and tourism.
“Last year also, NCER’s people-based talent development programme has 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,” he said.
Meanwhile, during the Certificate Presentation Ceremony for the NTIC Programme, 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 a Center of Excellence (CoE) provider for NTIC.
Mohamad Haris said that the CoE providers appointed today offer a difference compared to before. They now focus on efforts to support the development of local SMEs under the NTIC CoE User programme.
“So far, there are eight SME companies in Penang that have registered for the NTIC CoE User programme.
“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,” he said.
NTIC is an initiative that focuses on activities related to research, design, technology, innovation and commercialization. In addition, NTIC is also the main platform in attracting technology-related businesses to NCER, especially in Penang, through collaboration between local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), multinational companies and the academia.
Source – NCER