He said the government has always been fair in promoting investment and approving grants or incentives.
The government launched the Domestic Investment Strategic Fund (DISF) for Malaysian companies in July 2012 and companies from Penang received 38 projects, worth RM201 million, out of 118 projects approved worth RM550 million.
“Penang still remains one of the top investment destinations in the country for foreign investors especially for the electronic, medical devices, machinery and equipment industries,” Phang told reporters at a seminar on “Investment Opportunities in the Services Sector” in George Town, Friday.
Phang was responding to remarks by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who claimed that the Federal government and MIDA had stopped introducing investors to the state over the past year.
The MIDA deputy CEO also questioned the Penang government which claimed that MIDA was not doing enough to promote the island state which drew investments of RM4.6 billion from January to July 2014, up 15 per cent, compared with to the whole of last year.
“Penang is doing better than the national average, as the total approved investments for Malaysia from January to July was only RM53 billion this year compared with RM52 billion in 2013,” he said.
Phang said for the electric and electronics sector, Penang received 20 projects, worth RM3.1 billion, out of 45 projects, worth RM8.4 billion, approved by the government.
He said that the strength of northern region states, including Penang, was in the electrical and electronic sector.
“MIDA is currently working on the second roadmap to enhance this sector in the northern region,” he said.
He said Penang remained fourth in terms of investments behind Johor, Sarawak and Pahang.
–BERNAMA
