THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW EY OFFICE IN PENANG  

SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW FOR THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW EY OFFICE IN PENANG

 

29 August 2022
WISMA AIA, TANJUNG TOKONG

 

Yang Bhg. Dato’ Rauf Rashid
Malaysia Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd

Mr. Phuah Ewe Cheng
Partner, Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd and Northern Region Managing Partner

Ms. Cynthia Quah
SAP Managing Director

Distinguished guests,

 

Members of the media

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is indeed my great pleasure to be here with you this morning to celebrate the grand opening of the new EY office here at Wisma AIA, Tanjung Tokong. My deepest appreciation to EY for inviting me to officiate this momentous occasion.

Today marks another key milestone for EY. Your esteemed organization is one of the largest in Malaysia offering a comprehensive suite of professional services including Assurance, Tax, Consulting as well as Strategy & Transactions. With your multi-disciplinary teams and proven global methodologies to address the most complex of issues, EY audits and is consultant to many of Penang’s leading and fastest growing companies.

And I am delighted to note that EY is also an important member of our community in Penang, creating high-value jobs for Penangites for over 50 years.

I have also learnt that  EY’s highly experienced and multi-disciplinary teams in Penang are made up of Penangites as well as talents from our neighboring states, serving clients locally and in the region. This speaks volumes of Penang as a talent hub, attracting some of the best and highly qualfied talents from neighbouring states in Malaysia.

And with the introduction of your new and impressive EY@Work concept in this office, I have no doubt that it will only further promote a trust-based flexible environment that enables the EY people to deliver exceptional client services, attract and retain the best talent. And of course, also provide energizing and productive workspaces that are enhanced by means of collaborative technology. This is very much in line with the EY purpose of building a better working world for your clients, people and communities.

Congratulations to the EY leaders and team here in Penang on this special milestone!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is indeed a most opportune time to invest in Penang and in her talents. Our economy is resilient and as the fastest state to surpass the national growth by 5.8% compared to last year, I am confident that this momentum will continue to grow, especially with the reopening of all economic sectors.

In 2021, Penang achieved RM 99.1 billion GDP, the services sector in Penang are the powerhouse of our gross domestic product after contributing 47.4% to the Penang’s GDP, amounting to RM47 billion. We foresee Penang’s GDP to be on track from the pandemic recovery and to set for a moderate growth of 4-5% annually.

The State Government’s growth objectives as set out in the Penang2030 Vision and, Digital Penang,  provides strong foundation and clear policies aimed to position Penang as a strategic local and regional economic and technology hub. Penang recorded highest investment from 2019-2021 total of RM107.2 bilion and supported by 51,000 jobs.

Much of our enviable and robust growth has been spurred on by developments in various sectors and our focused approach towards our talents, infrastructure and planning. We continue to attract a steady flow of investments, thanks to the political stability, cost competitiveness, strong pool of skilled talent and sustainable infrastructure that we have in place.

The success in attracting a steady pipeline of investments into our economy reflects the State Government’s commitment to promote sustainable and inclusive development.

This is also attributed to the close cooperation and support from all key stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and academia.

In ensuring the state’s continued growth, we must remain laser focused on prioritizing the well-being of the rakyat, especially our youth, by creating a more sustainable economic environment and opportunities in which they can thrive, grow and prosper.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To this end, I am delighted to note that today EY, in collaboration with SAP, your alliance partner and Digital Penang, is launching the EY Young Technology Professional Challenge, which is open to all university students in Penang and Malaysia. This is indeed timely and through Digital Penang, we look forward to working closely with EY and SAP in this challenge to achieve our shared objectives to nurture and grow our young talents for the future.

It is vital to continuously upskill and develop technology and digital talents to be future-ready, in order to realize our our state and national growth ambitions.

I believe this collaboration will further consolidate our existing initiatives and will also elevate and position Penang and Malaysia as a technology talent hub in the ASEAN region.

Climate action is also a key priority and we are encouraged by the leadership and participation from our business community, including EY, a global leader in this field. I believe, we will benefit immensely from your global experience and insights in key areas such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability.

Penang State Government is prudent in managing its finances and healthy state reserves to support social economic development in Penang. The State Government continues to advocate for a corruption free society and accountants are our frontliners to combat corruption.

The State Government takes serious efforts to ensure that we are built on the foundations of integrity and accountability. It is vital that professional accountants flag out corruption, and together we can make Penang a corruption free state where business thrives.

On this note, I take the opportunity to offer the State Government’s support to further enhance our relationship and collaboration. Please be assured that we are here to provide a holistic and comprehensive business environment to ensure that your operations run smoothly.

We will continuously invest in the long-term future of our people as well as our trusted stakeholders. Everyone has a pivotal role as we continue this journey of ours towards becoming a more resilient, sustainable and developed nation.

Once again, congratulations on your grand opening!

With this, it is my pleasure to officially launch  the EY office here in Tanjung Tokong.

Thank you.