Penang to set up investment office in Singapore

Written by Tan Boon Kean

Wednesday, 17 June 2009 10:29

SINGAPORE: In its aim to attract foreign investors, Penang will set up a promotions representative office in Singapore.

The office could open by the beginning of next year and it “will be staffed by people passionate about Penang”, Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of Malaysia’s third largest state by GDP, told The Edge Singapore while on a business promotion visit.

Iskandar Malaysia, the government-linked company that is building the biggest development project in southern Johor, already has an office in Singapore but the investment promotion office by Penang will be the first by a Malaysian state on the island republic.

Several office locations have been identified but no decision has yet been made. The rep office will report to Invest Penang, the state’s investment promotions agency chaired by Datuk Lee Kah Choon, who was also in Singapore on Monday with the chief minister.

“Singapore, Medan, Hong Kong are our immediate targets. We are reaching out to people who know Penang. It is part of their

life and they don’t need much convincing but they need to relook at Penang, to reconnect,” said Lim.

The chief minister had flown in on Monday for a dinner talk hosted by the Old Frees’ Association Singapore (Penang Free School alumni), which was attended by many prominent, senior and young Penangites residing and working in Singapore, including alumni from Chung Ling High School, St Xavier’s Institution, St Georges Girls’ School and other Penang schools.

“Penangites have not only been losing income; they have also been losing relatives. Penang’s families have been sending their sons and daughters abroad for a long time now — down to the Klang valley in Selangor, over to Singapore, and out into the great wide world,” he wrote in an op-ed published in Singapore’s Straits Times the same day.

At the interview with The Edge yesterday, Lim said: “We can do more. The Singapore presence in Penang is there (already) but we must allow Singaporeans to rediscover Penang, to see the pearl that it is.”

“Singaporean investors are putting their money in and they should come more often. It is only a hop away,” he encouraged, citing the increase in Singapore-Penang flights uner the open sky policy from 17 to as many as 84 flights a week by next year.

In 2008, Singaporean companies invested RM2.6 billion (S$1.1 billion), accounting for more than 50% of total foreign direct investment awarded in the state.

The chief minister is also visiting Singapore projects and companies to expand the connections. After his first visit last April 17, which included a call on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the 48-year-old Penang chief minister of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition state government said the stage was clear for “closer links”.

In fact, he has a promise for big-scale foreign investors. Under his C-A-T (Competency-Accountability-Transparency) government, he said: “If you make a RM1 billion (S$416 million) investment, I’ll establish a special task force. I’ll be on call practically 24 hours. I’ll give you my private line.”

He said the service was much appreciated by investors. “I meet them almost immediately and they’re very happy about it. I personally attend to their problems and cut out red tape.”

As to the issues between the opposition-led state and the Barisan Nasional federal government, the chief minister said: “In terms of investments, the federal Mida (Malaysian Industrial Development Authority) is professional and if anybody wants to come to Penang, they will not obstruct.”

“It is in the interests of the federal government for everyone to succeed,” he said.

“If Penang fails, Malaysia also fails,” citing the fact that 30% of Malaysia’s exports and volume come from the state. In medical tourism alone, 65% of the revenue comes from Penang.

He said he was glad that the federal government had approved the construction of the second bridge joining the island to the mainland, the expansion of Penang airport and from next year, the air cargo terminal. The state is still pushing for Penang to be another LCCT hub.

“As I spoke to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (during the latter’s recent eight-day visit to Malaysia), Singapore is moving up the supply chain. Why don’t they relocate to Penang? We have the resources at reasonable rates. What is important is the good local climate and employment pool,” said Lim.

Lim’s latest visit is to continue doing more to know Singapore’s government leaders, so “we are familiar.”

It is also to make businesses comfortable so they would have no hesitation about investing. The chief minister said Penang was looking for investments in renewable energy, aerospace, medical devices and knowledge industries.

As to comparisons of Penang versus Iskandar Malaysia, which is also marketing for investors from Singapore, Lim said: “We are not competing with Iskandar. It is complementary. We have strengths that Iskandar don’t, for example in trained human capital and a track record.” Iskandar has ample land. Penang does not.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, June 17, 2009.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 June 2009 10:35