Mida failed to give full picture, says Guan Eng
Published: Aug 11, 2014 6:44 AM | Updated: Aug 11, 2014 8:15 AM
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) has failed to capture current investment performance in the state.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) has failed to capture current investment performance in the state.
Lim said Penang has captured RM3.1billion in investments until May this year, up from RM3.9 billion for the whole of last year.
"Up to May this year, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Penang's manufacturing sector amounted to RM2.34 billion, up from RM1.8 billion for whole year in 2013," Lim said in a statement.
"However Mida’s figures of FDI of RM2.34 billion does not include Seagate’s RM 1.05 billion investment which I had announced two days ago," he added.
Lim said Penang is undergoing a high income economic transformation; and the state's focus is on sustainability to remain competitive in the long run.
He added that the state remains attractive to high technology and innovation based investors and there is a gradual trend of investors moving their higher knowledge content jobs especially research and development and design to it.
"Three to four new projects in the state will be announced in the course of the year which may not be recorded in Mida investment figures," Lim said.
Lim acknowledged that in the process of moving up the value chain, there are expectations of lower value-added jobs made redundant and re-locating to lower labor cost countries.
"These are unavoidable industrial structural changes," he explained.
He pointed out that there is also a surge of shared services outsourcing (SSO) investors in Penang such as Wilmar, CitiGroup, Air Asia, IHS, First Solar Global Service and Toll Forwarding Group.
This sector, which offers high-income and high-value jobs to locals during the last two years currently employs over 7,000 workers.
"Even though investments by SSO industries are not captured in Mida figures, this industry provides average net salaries of RM5,783 per month (according to Multimedia Development Corporation, 2014) versus average RM2,786 per month in manufacturing sector (according to the Department of Statistics, April 2014)," Lim said.
He also reminded that the Penang government had signed a RM11.3 billion joint-venture agreement with Singapore’s Temasek Group to carry out the Penang International Technology Park in Batu Kawan and BPO projects in Bayan Baru that will create 21,000 high-value jobs.
"Also not captured in the Mida figures are investments in six new hotel projects with an approximate gross development value (GDV) of RM693 million materialising on the island between this year and 2017 (according to the Malaysian Hotels Association, Penang Chapter).
"Using the multiplier factor of 4.75, 1,157 new hotel rooms are estimated to create 5,500 new jobs in accommodation and food services activities in the next three years," he stressed.
Lim said Penang has captured RM3.1billion in investments until May this year, up from RM3.9 billion for the whole of last year.
"Up to May this year, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Penang's manufacturing sector amounted to RM2.34 billion, up from RM1.8 billion for whole year in 2013," Lim said in a statement."However Mida’s figures of FDI of RM2.34 billion does not include Seagate’s RM 1.05 billion investment which I had announced two days ago," he added.
Lim said Penang is undergoing a high income economic transformation; and the state's focus is on sustainability to remain competitive in the long run.
He added that the state remains attractive to high technology and innovation based investors and there is a gradual trend of investors moving their higher knowledge content jobs especially research and development and design to it.
"Three to four new projects in the state will be announced in the course of the year which may not be recorded in Mida investment figures," Lim said.
Lim acknowledged that in the process of moving up the value chain, there are expectations of lower value-added jobs made redundant and re-locating to lower labor cost countries.
"These are unavoidable industrial structural changes," he explained.
He pointed out that there is also a surge of shared services outsourcing (SSO) investors in Penang such as Wilmar, CitiGroup, Air Asia, IHS, First Solar Global Service and Toll Forwarding Group.
This sector, which offers high-income and high-value jobs to locals during the last two years currently employs over 7,000 workers."Even though investments by SSO industries are not captured in Mida figures, this industry provides average net salaries of RM5,783 per month (according to Multimedia Development Corporation, 2014) versus average RM2,786 per month in manufacturing sector (according to the Department of Statistics, April 2014)," Lim said.
He also reminded that the Penang government had signed a RM11.3 billion joint-venture agreement with Singapore’s Temasek Group to carry out the Penang International Technology Park in Batu Kawan and BPO projects in Bayan Baru that will create 21,000 high-value jobs.
"Also not captured in the Mida figures are investments in six new hotel projects with an approximate gross development value (GDV) of RM693 million materialising on the island between this year and 2017 (according to the Malaysian Hotels Association, Penang Chapter).
"Using the multiplier factor of 4.75, 1,157 new hotel rooms are estimated to create 5,500 new jobs in accommodation and food services activities in the next three years," he stressed.
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