DAP Confident Of Attracting Investors To Penang

PENANG, March 13 (Bernama) -- Amid skepticism that investors will stay away from Penang with the change-of-guard to the opposition, the DAP-led state government says it is confident of attracting more foreign investors to the state.

"One of my first tasks as Chief Minister is to assure foreign investors that we are investor-friendly and know what we are doing," said Guan Eng, who is also DAP Secretary-General at his first press conference at his office at Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak here today.

He said the state government hoped to attract more investments which were value-added, and which provided better and high paying jobs.

Penang, one of the nations silicon valleys, should move away from investments which were focused on labour-intensive or low wages, he said.

In fact, he said, he would be meeting with representatives from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) after the press conference to discuss investment prospects in the state.

"Our elected representatives who are familiar with the industry, are spearheading moves to assure and attract foreign investors to come in," he said.

He said he was also surprised that DAP Member of Parliament for Jelutong, Jeff Ooi, had been contacted by many of these industrialists and manufacturers.

"They know Jeff Ooi (prominent blogger) (and) how to get access to him. Importantly, they know that Jeff Ooi understands their concerns and is knowledgeable about the problems in the industry."

At the packed press conference, Lim however did not give a straight answer to the question on Penangs investment climate since DAP took over from the Barisan Nasional-led state government, but only said that investment conditions were dependent on global trends.

"There is a danger of the United States slipping into a recession. If that happens, we cannot escape from its negative impact," he said.

"But what is important is that the present government is committed to ensuring and committed towards building or ensuring that skilled talents can develop and prosper Penang.

"And of course, the government is committed to attracting value added, and wanting them (foreign investors) to stay and expand," said Lim.

--BERNAMA