THE PENANG Development Corporation (PDC), the state’s pioneering agency, has embarked on a new strategic plan from now until 2028 to ensure a sustainable business model while embracing digitalisation through 15 high-impact projects worth RM5 billion.
Once the darling of the state’s development agenda, PDC now finds itself among other state agencies entrusted to sustain the growth engine of Penang, especially in the segments which the state has flourished in – manufacturing and services.
Since 2008, Penang has formed several other agencies besides PDC to offer focal attention to key economic areas such as Invest Penang, Global Tourism, Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau and the Penang Green Council.
PDC, however, remains a key agency in spearheading the industrialisation of Penang and its chief executive officer Datuk Aziz Bakar stressed that its role is ever important.
PDC is now constructing a key logistics hub to complement the expansion of the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas, as among the examples of the 15 projects.
Then, there is a need to provide proper foreign workers’ housing quarters, as proper accommodation is now a key ingredient in wooing investors, he said.
“PDC plans to have quarters for up to 30,000 foreign workers in four strategic locations. This will encourage investors to come here,” Aziz said after the strategic planning 2004 to 2008 launching by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow here at PDC.
He also launched the PDC business sustainability model and a digital drive campaign.
Aziz also spelled out the need to continue opening up new industrial parks to meet the anticipated demand from local and foreign industrialists, especially as Penang moves up the value chain of manufacturing.
Through PDC’s pioneering efforts, the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone is now regarded as an important component in the global supply chain of electrical and electronics.
Chow, meanwhile, urged PDC to compete with developers who have begun to offer private industrial parks to investors, such as the one developed by the Ideal Group in Bertam, Kepala Batas near the Penang Science Park.
Chow also invited PDC to work with its counterpart – Digital Penang – to venture into the digital economy by helping the state transform its bricks and mortar physical concept into one driven by technology and innovation.
The PDC headquarters in Bayan Baru has now also been renamed as the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Building – a testament to the second chief minister who initiated the industrialisation drive. – The Vibes, March 25, 2024.
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