IMT-GT SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK SEMINAR
OFFICIATING SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
FOR IMT-GT SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK SEMINAR
24th AUGUST 2019
PARK ROYAL PENANG RESORT
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentleman
Selamat Datang ke Pulau Pinang, Welcome to Penang to fellow participants from Indonesia and Thailand!
IMT-GT this year marks an important milestone for Penang’s continuous effort to stimulate growth and carving pathways in becoming a Green State. It is our utmost pleasure and honour to be the host for this event and we welcome The Mayors and delegates from Indonesia, Thailand and other states to Penang.
Penang is known as the Silicon Valley of the East for its industries. Now home to more than 300 MNSc and 3000 supporting SMEs, Penang is one of Malaysia’s most vital economic powerhouses. Penang will continue and certainly remain as a thriving global economic hub for many years to come. Besides being able to provide vast opportunities of high value jobs, Penang is aware that it takes more than that to be an international city, moreover a green city. What does it take to be labelled a ‘green city’? It takes more than just economic growth but an area that is resilient and inclusive, able to manage its natural resources well, promotes low carbon growth to remain competitive but at the same time ensuring the livelihood of its citizens. Its a holistic and sustainable all rounded growth and development in and out to call oneself a green city.
The Sustainable Urban Development Framework is the scale-up expansion of the Green Cities Initiatives in IMT-GT. One of the initial initiatives – Green City Action Plan (GCAP) was firstly implemented for Melaka, Songkhla, Hatyai, Medan dan Batam. SUDF takes global goals to regional actions which are coherent with local, provincial, national, regional and international priorities. SUDF was recently endorsed by the Leaders during the 12th IMT-GT Summit on 23rd June in Bangkok, Thailand. We have witnessed ourselves in Malaysia how Melaka has made great strides towards building a sustainable, green city. The once polluted drainage canal – Melaka River is now a popular tourist attraction with small quaint shops running beside it. Its revitalisation has increased foot traffic and reduced car use in the fast-growing state. Melaka’s success is definitely a living proof of meticulous planning, comprehensive approach supported by government policies and projects, private sector engagement and citizen initiatives. With the technical and financial aid provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Melaka being the first city where GCAP was implemented has flourished into a sustainable green urban city. With that, I hope that Penang State will be the next city where the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assist with the technical and financial aid support.
With that, SUDF envisions to implement GCAP in at least another 40 cities within Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. SUDF prioritises in improving transportation and connectivity, promoting the use of renewable energy, protecting biodiversity, proper management of solid waste and last but not least ensuring clean water and sanitisation. I am very glad that Penang is one of the networks in the Sustainable Urban Development Framework (SUDF) and I look forward to more green milestones Penang could and would achieve with this. We cannot deny the world of urbanisation. The hunger to improve quality of life is the ultimate working goal in the modern world. However, we are starting to see the environmental strains on cities, such as air, water and noise pollution, traffic congestion, scarce land, health issues as well as inadequate solid waste management. Poorly managed urbanisation also worsens risks posed by climate change. Climate change remains the most pressing environmental issue of our time. We are currently looking at about 300 million people in ASEAN already living in cities and another 90 million are expected to move in by 2030. When the time comes, how would a city sustain itself if we are still living the way we are now?
Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis. However, this did not deter us from growing and moving forward, be bolder and more assured of the leading path for us. In 2018, the state government introduced and acknowledged Penang2030 as a vision and an approached that will encourage the citizens to participate in policy making and to take responsibility of their own future. It is earmarked to be a family-focused green and smart state that inspires the nation. This is the very first written vision the State has come up with. The uniqueness of Penang2030 lies in its open-door policy to private sectors, civil society, academicians and every citizen.
Rome was not built in a day either and we are aware a lot of hard work, sweat and tears will be needed to make Penang and the other 40 participating cities a green city. But I believe that with dedication and determination, we will achieve our goals. I hereby wish that through this IMT-GT event, you will be even more inspired to work towards the sustainable goals your country will formulate to achieve.
Thank you and enjoy the seminar.