COUNTDOWN TO WCIT 2022 MALAYSIA
SPEECH BY YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW
THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
COUNTDOWN TO WCIT 2022 MALAYSIA
17TH JUNE 2022 | SETIA SPICE CONVENTION CENTRE
Members of the Penang State Executive Council,
Members of the Penang State Assembly,
Members of Parliament,
Heads of Penang Lead Agencies,
Yang Berusaha Dr Sean Seah
Chairman of PIKOM
Yang Berusaha Dato’ Dan E Khoo
Chief Executive Officer of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA)
Distinguished guests,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
A very good afternoon to everyone.
Firstly, I would like to thank PIKOM for inviting me here today for the Countdown to the World Conference On Information Technology (WCIT 2022). As mentioned by Dr Sean Seah, we are very close to the event date, 88 days to be exact. It has been a long wait, since year 2019, for us to reach this point.
Yesterday we had the 7th WCIT 2022 Steering Committee meeting and I am very pleased to see a lot progress has taken place. In the past few months, the committee reported to have signed up more support and partners from the various sectors, local, regional and international.
I am delighted that we currently have more than 50 industry and industry association partners and sponsors, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to each and every one of them.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Since the opening of the Malaysian borders, we have been very busy welcoming guests from around the world, visiting Penang for business and leisure. We have ramped up and polished services at the tourist attractions, enhanced our hawkers and local cuisines, and upgraded our hospitality services.
WCIT 2022 taking place in Penang will be another magnificent opportunity for Malaysia to welcome influential global tech industry leaders to our beautiful country, which is rich in cultural diversity, modern in lifestyle and uniquely located in the central hub of Asia.
Malaysia is ready to meet, share hands and network with world tech leaders, innovators and forward-thinking personalities. This is the ultimate platform for us, particularly in Penang, to gain as much knowledge and experiences from these experts in order to grow, upgrade ourselves, and to compete for the better.
As Penang celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Penang’s industrialization journey, we are thrilled to learn that we will be welcoming close to 4,000 delegates this September.
Last year, Malaysia recorded approved investments worth RM306.5 billion in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors, with Penang contributing RM83.5billion of the total investments. While the manufacturing sector continues to be the backbone along with E&E, these two sectors are heavily supported by technology and digital advancements.
The only way for us to boost the economy further for Penang and Malaysia is to go beyond the existing sectors, which is why today we have digitalization initiatives, upgrading of systems and continue to strive of STEM, technology-driven sectors, data centres, GBS and AI.
For the betterment of the country, the way forward is for us to work and collaborate with other states and industry to prosper together, economically, culturally and harmoniously.
The Penang State Government together with the organisers and our partners in WCIT2022 look forward to a great event come September 13-15 this year, and we warmly welcome visitors from around the world to Penang, Malaysia.
In line with the State’s Penang2030 vision of ‘A Family-Focused Green and Smart State to Inspire the Nation’, we look forward to 'Connecting and Transforming the World.'
With that, I am pleased to launch the Countdown to WCIT 2022 Malaysia. See you this September.
Thank you.