WCIT 2022 OPENING CEREMONY
WELCOME ADDRESS BY
YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW
THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
WCIT 2022 OPENING CEREMONY
SPICE CONVENTION CENTRE
13 SEPTEMBER 2022; 9.50AM
Tuan Yang Terutama Tun Dato' Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Haji Abdul Razak
Penang State Governor
YAB Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob
Prime Minister of Malaysia
YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham bin Baba
Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI)
YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima TPr. Haji Annuar bin Haji Musa
Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia
YB Dato’ Seri Dr. Shahidan bin Kassim
Minister, Ministry of Federal Territories
YB Datuk Seri Saravanan a/l Murugan
Minister, Ministry of Human Resources
YB Dato’ Seri Reezal Merican bin Naina Merican
Minister of Housing and Local Government Malaysia
Exco Members of The Penang State Government
Ambassadors & High Commisioners to Malaysia
Mr Yannis Sirros
Chairman of WITSA
Dr Sean Seah
PIKOM Chairman & WCIT 2022 Organising Chairman
Federal & State Goverment Agencies
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning.
It is my pleasure to be here today for the long-awaited World Congress on Innovation and Technology 2022 (WCIT 2022), one of the world’s largest and most prestigious ICT events. On behalf of the Penang State Government, I would like to welcome all government leaders, visionaries, industry captains, innovators, academicians, and visitors from over 80 countries to Penang.
With the theme ‘Connecting and Transforming the World’, WCIT creates a platform that is paramount in addressing the current agendas that are pertinent to the industry players, while aptly sets the tone for all visitors to exchange ideas and connect.
With a list of extensive programmes mapped out over the three-day event, surrounding on the digitalization landscape and upcoming technology frontier, I am sure that WCIT 2022 will ignite the creation of innovative technologies and effective solutions, inspiring all stakeholders to forge ahead in this new and exciting era.
Ladies & gentlemen,
Dubbed as the Silicon Valley of the East and the economic powerhouse of Malaysia, Penang constantly serve as a partner of choice for global top-notch technology companies. Proudly, Penang is also known as an entrepreneurial state that provides a conducive environment for homegrown technology companies to scale and prosper, gaining recognitions in the international arena.
Despite being the second smallest state in Malaysia, Penang commanded over 5% of the global semiconductor sales and made up close to 60% of the country’s E&E exports. On the investment front, the manufacturing and service industries collectively garnered a record high of RM84 billion in 2021.
With Penang’s leading position in advanced manufacturing coupled with our strong engineering talent pool, I am confident that Penang could play a prominent role in the national digitalisation agenda.
In Malaysia, the digital economy is expected to contribute 23% of the country’s GDP and create over 500,000 jobs by 2025. I am pleased to note that Penang’s proposition in the global value chain is no longer restricted to back-end activities, but we are becoming an emerging regional hub for IC design, IoT solutions and R&D activities.
Penang has been clocking in strategic investments from the digital economy industries over the past years. The most recent investments include Lattice Semiconductor, Luxoft, and UST.
Ladies & gentlemen,
We acknowledge that incorporating tripartite Public-Private and People partnership is crucial in paving the way to becoming a high-income economy and creating quality jobs. On this note, I wish to assure all investors that the State Government, through InvestPenang, Penang Development Corporation and other relevant state machineries, is committed to providing unwavering support to the investors.
To all attendees, I am certain that you will have fruitful and rewarding exchanges from WCIT 2022. With that, I wish everyone a great success with this impactful conference, and I look forward to learning about the outcomes.
Thank you.