Penang's success due to good foundation laid over 40 years: Koh

By Bernard Cheah, The Sun

January 21, 2011

GEORGE TOWN (Jan 20, 2011): Penang had the highest amount of investments in the country last year due to the good foundation laid by the state authorities 40 years ago.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the RM12 billion in investments was a result of good infrastructure, materials and components, which were provided over the last 40 years.

"This was all done during the tenure of former Penang Chief Minister, the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu," he said.

Koh, who is also Gerakan president and former Penang Chief Minister, pointed out that from the RM12 billion, about RM9 billion are from expansion of factories and plants from existing foreign companies here.

"Only RM3 billion are new (investments). And these investments were brought in with the cooperation of the Malaysian International Development Agency (MIDA) and the state government," he said, adding that the state government will continue to work with the federal government in this aspect.

Koh added that overall, 2010 has been a good year for Malaysia, and hopes that with the foundation the state has, it will be able to push itself forward.

He said this after visiting some thaneer panthal (refreshment stalls) along Jalan Utama here during the Thaipusam celebration this morning.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced yesterday that based on the figures by MIDA, the state attracted the highest amount of investments in the country last year, recording a total RM12.238 billion, a jump of 465% compared to the total investments in 2009.

On another matter, Koh denied that Penang had been sidelined from the developments carried out by the Federal Government.

"We have the second Penang Bridge, the continuous expansion of the Penang International Airport, Penang Port as well as the Mengkuang Dam. All this big projects are still going on," he said, adding that the federal government has not abandoned Penang or its people.

Under the 12 National Key Economic Areas, the electronic industry is one of them, in which Penang, Sg Petani and Kulim in Kedah and North Perak are part of the initiative," he said.

"We are trying to attract investments through the federal government and the state government should continue to work with us for the benefit of all Malaysians," Koh added.

Lim was reported saying that not a single project under the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) was carried out in Penang.