SPEECH BY YAB CHOW KON YEOW,

THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG

AT THE LAUNCHING CEREMONY OF THE

50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF PENANG'S INDUSTRIALISATION

17 January 2022

PDC, Penang

Dato' Dr. Ahmad Jailani bin Muhamed Yunus

State Secretary of Penang

 

Dato’ Seri Lee Kah Choon

Organizing Committee Chairperson for the 50^th Anniversary of Penang's Industrialisation Celebration

Dato’ Loo Lee Lian

CEO of InvestPenang & Organizing Committee Vice Chairperson for the 50^th Anniversary of Penang's Industrialisation Celebration

Encik Abdul Latiff Abdul Aziz

Deputy CEO, representing the CEO of PDC, who is also the Organizing Committee Vice Chairperson for the 50^th Anniversary of Penang's Industrialisation Celebration

Dato’ Seri Chet Singh

Former General Manager of PDC

Distinguished guests who are joining us physically & virtually,

Members of the press

Ladies & Gentlemen

Good afternoon.

It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon for the launching ceremony of the 50^th anniversary of Penang’s industrialisation. 2022 is a year of celebration for Penang as it signifies the success of our transformation journey over the last five decades.

Penang’s transformation, from a traditional seaport economy into the Silicon Valley of the East began in 1972. Fast forward to 2022 and 50 years of manufacturing excellence later, Penang is now one of the country’s key focal points for investment inflows and external trade.

The State’s commendable performance that continues to punch above our weights is testament to the state’s conducive environment, placing us at the forefront of industrialisation.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all industry players for the continued confidence in Penang, as well as the State and Federal agencies for the concerted efforts in solidifying Penang’s position as a preferred investment location throughout this 50-year industrialisation journey.

Ladies & gentlemen,

The five decades of manufacturing excellence have laid the groundwork for Penang to unlock limitless potential. The tagline for this celebration “50 Years of Excellence and Beyond” aptly describes the State’s ambition to capitalise on this springboard and forge ahead with all stakeholders. Together, we can propel Penang to greater heights for the next 50 years and beyond.

As for the logo design, which we will reveal shortly, uses a blue and gold combination to portray modernity and grandeur, which is inspired by the Penang flag. Notably, a blue gradient is often associated with technology, digitalization and intelligence, which ties with Penang’s aspirations towards a new era of industrialisation. Gold, on the other hand, highlights the Golden Jubilee of Penang’s industrialisation. The logo also incorporated elements of binary codes to create a distinct futuristic icon that commensurate with the State’s digitalization objective. Stay tuned.

Penang’s robust industrial ecosystem and active participation from both foreign and local companies has generated tremendous momentum and scale, which translates into immense potential that is ripe for the picking.

Holding on to that, the State has established a public-private partnership with industry leaders to outline and coordinate a year-long event to demonstrate Penang’s successful transformation and opportunities ahead.

Aside from shining a spotlight on Penang’s 50 years of manufacturing excellence which houses top-notched industry players, the curated themes also focus on industries with countless possibilities, including Electrical & Electronics (E&E), Medical Technology, Digital Economy & Global Business Service (GBS), Food technology and Space technology.

Aside from these, we also feature local technopreneurship and startup as our themes to showcase the capabilities and breakthroughs of our homegrown companies.

With the uptake of fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies that drive productivity and growth, innovation and talent are imperatives that formed the core of Penang’s digitalization journey. Innovation-related programs, alongside plans on talent attraction and cultivation will be carried out this year.

In addition, Penang pledged to hold sustainability as one of our top priorities. As such, Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) is firmly on the agenda.

With this, we have 12 themes altogether for this year-long celebration. The State is delighted to have industry leaders like Aemulus, ams-OSRAM, Angkasa-X, Boston Scientific, Exabytes, Inari Amertron, Intel, Keysight, Penang GBS Focus Group and Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), joining us as the theme drivers for this meaningful celebration.

I am pleased that all themes coincide with the Penang2030 vision of “A Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation”.

This celebration is also in conjunction with two upcoming international tech events that will be held in Penang, namely the SEMICON Southeast Asia 2022 and the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2022.

Going forward, the State is cognizant of the emerging trends and strive to uphold our competitive edge by penetrating into high value-added activities while strengthening the existing industry clusters. The State will not rest on its laurels, but will instead strive to bank on our industrial expertise in order to maintain excellence for the next 50 years and beyond.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the lead agencies, Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and InvestPenang for organizing and coordinating this year-long event.

My sincere gratitude to all industry players, especially the ones on board as theme drivers, for your contribution in cementing Penang’s position in the national, regional and global arena. We welcome all other companies and associations to join us for this year-long celebration.

My best wishes to all. Thank you.