At Inauguration of UST Global’s New Facility Bayan Lepas

Speech by Chief Minister of Penang

At Inauguration of UST Global’s New Facility Bayan Lepas, Penang

7 September 2017

 

Good morning.

I am pleased to be present today to officiate the inauguration of UST Global’s new facility in their journey of growth in Penang. Since commencing operation in 2011 in Penang, this IT solutions multinational has grown from strength to strength.

Penang as UST Global’s Technology Centre of Excellence in Malaysia

UST Global plays a major role in the Global Business Services ecosystem in Penang with a total strength of more than 900 employees currently. The company is still expanding and is expected to grow to a company with 2,000 staff in Penang by 2020. I was informed that their first facility at GBS@Mayang can no longer support the company’s growing needs which has led to the need to expand to this new facility.

Penang is truly the destination of choice for US companies such as UST Global which is offering digital technology services and engineering research, design and development. The investment by a US company proves untrue allegations by certain irresponsible parties that American investment is not coming to Penang. We have a vibrant and established ecosystem with over 300 multinational corporations and 3,000 highly competent local supply chain vendors to support the ecosystem of the industry. More importantly, building on our residual intelligence accumulated over more than 40 years of industrialization, we have a pool of skilled and knowledge based workers.

In our efforts to partake in the Industrial 4.0 revolution, revolving around interaction of machines, cloud computing and Internet of Things, Penang has invested RM 60 million in several scientific projects, such as @CAT Penang (Accelerator for Creative, Analytics and Technology), Penang Science Cluster (PSC), Karpal Singh Penang Learning Centre (KSPLC), Tech Dome Penang (TDP), and Penang Digital Library (PDL). We also have Malaysia’s best skill training and retraining center, Penang Skill and Development Center (PSDC). It is a coherent and synergistic strategy to spearhead STEM, in line with our plan to establish Penang as the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Science and Technology. All our efforts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning and experience will surely benefit tech-based companies in Penang, and ensure a continuous flow of talent pool. While Data is king, to Penang Talent is everything.

Accelerating Penang’s Growth – GBS as Catalyst towards a High-income and a Knowledge-based Economy

Within the period of 12 years, since Penang has been awarded the MSC Malaysia Cybercity Status in year 2005, Penang Cybercity initiative has also created over 200 MSC status companies and a total of more than 10,000 high value jobs. Penang is proud that Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), in their Malaysia Investment Performance 2016 listed Penang with the second largest investments for Global Establishments for Services or ‘Principal Hub’ with an investment value of RM4.1 billion, after Kuala Lumpur.
 
Penang continues to be a preferred investment location of choice for GBS companies. Apart from more than 250 MSC status companies operating in Penang, latest GBS investments from Oct 2016 – July 2017 into the State include Celestica, Luxoft, Swarovski and Teleperformance. Penang is an excellent location for GBS and CoE for investors such as UST Global and the State will continue to support and enhance the eco-system, in tandem with the bright prospect of such industry where Malaysia’s GBS is expected to see a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10-15% from 2016-2020.

Closing Remark

The decision by UST Global to set up in Penang once again demonstrates the success of Penang as an attractive destination for GBS investments - good governance, efficient logistics hub, competent supply chain, excellent communication infrastructure, conducive business parks and building as well as availability of skilled talent and of course, all happening in an international and intelligent city.

I wish to once again congratulate UST Global and look forward to your continuous growth here in Penang.

Thank you.