Yin Wai, Property Investor and Property Coach shared about the prospect of investing in Penang in the video below.
The Department of Statistics of Malaysia says that there are two main economic activities that contribute to Penang’s income. One of these is manufacturing, and the other one are services.
Manufacturing
First we look at manufacturing. Penang has always been known as the Silicon Valley of the East. This is because the first Chief Ministers Region, who have brought in what is known as the “Seven Samurai,” one of which being Intel, and they have been here ever since.
What does Penang manufacture? We have always been manufacturing semiconductor chips. Recently, we have also been manufacturing medical devices under our excellent manufacturing standards. We started off by doing, what we call, low-value manufacturing or low-mix at a very high volume. This means that we manufacture a high volume of the same parts.
Manufacturing has once been seen as having the lowest value in the commodity chain. However, for the past 40 years, thanks to government policies and promotional activities, we are getting all these manufacturers to move up on the value chain from manufacturing all the way up to R & D.
At the same time, by having the E & E industry go in to more R & D, we are also also promoting a new area to focus on like the Life Sciences, which is in the purview of the Biotechcorp that was set up in 2005.
Another industry that is really recession-proof is the medical device industry. For the past 30 to 40 years, Penang has been the base of manufacturing excellence. We produce parts that are related to the electronics component of medical devices like those found in a pacemaker as well as producing orthopedic parts. We have become known for precision manufacturing and engineering. That’s why it makes sense for Penang to get in to these areas.
I’ve also been recently talking to some of my friends. We were told that there are resizing in the electronics industry. There have been some lay-offs, but there are some companies are generally expanding and seeing very high revenues. Thanks to the state government for promoting this industry focus area, Penang is actually doing quite well.
Services
Another area that Penang has been promoting is Outsourcing. Here we have Business Process Outsourcing, Shared Service Outsourcing, and IT Outsourcing. Those familiar with Penang in the Bayan Baru area, you’ll see companies like Citi Corp, since it moved here, many kinds of people coming in to the Bayan Baru area.
Not only that, you have the insurance company, Prudential, also has moved in. Recently, we have also seen a lot of demand for rented properties in the area.
And we realize that that AirAsia has actually moved their operation here. It is not the main hub, but operations from overseas like Cambodia, Philippines, and Indonesia has moved to Penang.
It’s actually very exciting. These are just some of the activities going on right now for Penang that you would also see in the news.
Watch the webinar below for more opportunity outlook in Penang.
