THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY OF ANGKASA-X EARTH STATION AND STATE-OF-THE-ART SPACE TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
Tuan Yang Terutama Tun Dato' Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Haji Abdul Razak
Penang State Governor
YB Professor Dr. P. Ramasamy
Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang
Members of the Penang State Executive Council:
YB Jagdeep Singh Deo a/l Karpal Singh
YB Dato' Haji Abdul Halim bin Haji Hussain
YB Zairil Khir Johari
Honourable Members of the Penang State Legislative Assembly
YBhg Datuk Azhar bin Arshad
Mayor of Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP)
YBrs Tuan Mohd. Shuhaily bin Mohd. Zain
Penang Chief Police Officer
YBhg Professor Dato’ Dr. Faisal bin Rafiq
Vice Chancellor, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
YBrs Dr Sean Seah
Executive Chairman of Angkasa-X Innovation Sdn Bhd
Your Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
SpaceTech Enthusiasts
Members of the Press
Ladies and gentlemen
A good morning to all.
First and foremost, on behalf of the Penang State Government, I would like to thank the Governor of Penang, Tuan Yang Terutama Tun Dato' Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Haji Abdul Razak, for gracing us with your presence this morning. I would also like to record my appreciation to Angkasa-X and Universiti Sains Malaysia, coincidentally my alma mater, for extending an invitation for me to be part of today’s groundbreaking ceremony.
If my memory serves me right, it was slightly over a year ago that I attended the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Digital Penang, USM and Angkasa-X for Penang to spearhead and be the launchpad of the New Space Economy in the ASEAN region.
Today in the presence of Tuan Yang Terutama Tun, we are a step closer in realising that path by witnessing the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Angkasa-X Earth Station and the State-Of-The-Art Space Technology Centre, right here in the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s campus in Nibong Tebal.
Tuan Yang Terutama Tun, ladies and gentlemen,
2022 is a special year for Penang in more ways than one. Having marked our transformational beginnings as an industrial hub with the presence of the Eight Samurais in the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone in 1972, Penang’s industrialisation journey has grown from strength to strength. With a robust manufacturing ecosystem in place, Penang’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of the East flourishes with the steady presence of, and strong interest from global investors. Whether it is a brownfield or greenfield investment, many are eager to make Penang their home.
And these are not empty words, for Penang recently recorded its highest ever approved manufacturing investment figures, totalling RM76.2 billion. 98% of that amount was from foreign direct investments (FDI) at RM74.4 billion, making Penang the highest manufacturing FDI recipient in Malaysia with 41% share of Malaysia’s total FDI.
In this regard, I take this opportunity to echo what has been said by Tuan Yang Terutama Tun at last year’s Penang Future Forward Summit, whereby the presence of multi-national corporations here as part of the global supply chain network is a positive indicator that Penang is wired up as an important global player and plays a pivotal role, particularly in the production of electrical and electronic products (E&E). Given that the strong demand for E&E products are expected to further grow due to rapid technological advancements and digitalisation, the State is pleased to share that Penang’s exports, dominated by the electrical and electronic (E&E) products, climbed 14% year-on-year in 2021, reaching its all-time high of RM354 billion and making it the nation's highest contributor in exports.
Tuan Yang Terutama Tun, ladies and gentlemen,
While we aspire to celebrate Penang’s 50 years of industrialisation excellence and beyond, we are also cognizant that the state’s robust industrial ecosystem, well-developed infrastructure, skilled workforce and liveability stature should serve as a catalyst for our next chapter of collective progress, namely diversification into other industries.
In acknowledging that the best of economies will remain stagnant if the right platform is not established for possibilities of new economic activities, this perspective becomes even more important at this juncture when nations try to recover on a stronger footing beyond the crippling effects of Covid-19. There is no better time than now to embrace emerging trends and at the same time, maintain our competitive edge by expanding into high value-added activities and strengthening our existing industry clusters. In this regard, I am particularly pleased to see Angkasa-X, USM, and Digital Penang actively leading the state towards welcoming a new wave of strategic investments in SpaceTech Economy. The presence of the Earth Station Farm and SpaceTech Centre will certainly usher in a different dimension to Penang’s 50 years of industrial successes.
I am further encouraged to learn that the state-of-the-art centre will be used for research and development (R&D), assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellites to form and operate the Angkasa-X A-SEANSAT LEO satellite constellations. Together with the news that AngkasaX has also partnered with several companies to start off the Penang Tech Hub in February this year, I am confident that this major game changer supports the state’s Penang2030 vision to make Penang 'A Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation.'
Along with the implementation of the Penang Digital Transformation Masterplan 2021-2023, which covers the four pillars of the economy, infrastructure, governance, and community, and the state’s commitment in attracting, developing and retaining talents in the fields of STEM, the Penang State Government looks forward to working closely with the space tech industry for the greater good of all. May this collaboration unlock Penang’s next exciting journey towards a new frontier.
My heartiest congratulations to all.
Thank you.