78% drop in Penang investment in 2009 !!!

Oh shoot! Dropped by 78% ??!!! We better picked ourself up in 2010, else the situation doesn't look good :)

FOREIGN investments in Penang declined a whopping 78 per cent to RM2.2 billion last year against RM10.2 billion recorded in 2008.

"It's the lowest investment ever recorded by the island state in the past five years," said Penang Gerakan Small-and--Medium Entrepreneurs (SME) Bureau Chairman Michael Heah at a press conference Penang today.

According to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida), the number of approved projects recorded in Penang also dipped 31.12 per cent to 104 projects in 2009 from 151 projects in 2008.

Heah said Gerakan received feedback from small-and-medium entrepreneurs and industry leaders who claimed the state government had diverted resources significantly into the services sector.

"Gerakan is not objecting to the state government supporting the development of the services sector, but we would like them to explain why the sudden diversion in state resources which may affect the continued growth of the industrial sector," he said.

Heah said Penang had more than 30 years of experience in the electrical and electronics sector and was home to international household companies like Intel, AMD, Motorola, Fairchild, Agilent, Osram, Robert Bosch, Renesas, Braun, Dell, Sanyo and Toshiba.

"We urge the state government to announce its Industrial Master Plan to help the manufacturing industry, especially SMEs, who are fighting for survival," he said.

Heah also said if the present state government was serious in attracting foreign investments, it should allocate funding to Invest-in-Penang Bhd (InvestPenang).

"Between 2004 and 2007, InvestPenang, under Barisan Nasional, was funded by state government resources and not the federal government.

"Penang Development Corporation contributed RM3 million while the state government, Penang Municipal Council and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council contributed RM1 million, each, during the company's inception," he said.

Bernama

This sounds trouble coming for the Pakatan-led state as I'm sure Mr Lim Guan Eng is in for another round of criticism.