Following the signing of the RM3 billion Joint-Venture agreement between Sime Darby Bhd and PDC to build a SME International Park, there is another national government owned company investing in Penang.
I wish to congratulate PDC, Temasek and EDIS on this auspicious occasion of the signing ceremony for the Agreements between PDC, Temasek and EDIS for the development of the RM 1.3 billion BPO Prime Project at Bandar Bayan Baru, Penang.
The Agreements to be signed today are:
- JV Agreement for BPO Prime Project (PDC and Temasek)
- Management Services Agreement (BPO Premier Sdn Bhd and Symbiosis Ventures Management Sdn Bhd)
- Investment Promotion Services Agreement (BPO Premier Sdn Bhd and Symbiosis Ventures Management Sdn Bhd)
This BPO Prime Project represents a new milestone for Penang as it signifies an international collaboration between PDC, the premier development agency of the State Government of Penang; Temasek, an investment company based in Singapore with a S$266 billion investment portfolio as at 31 March 2015, mainly in Singapore and Asia. EDIS is a company headquartered in Singapore with offices in Germany and the USA spearheaded by Mr Philip Yeo, one of the Singapore’s foremost economic architects.
This collaboration is indeed testimony of the confidence and trust that the international business community have in the future of Penang – in terms of its good corporate governance, business prospects and availability of world- class human talent.
This BPO Prime project is located on 6.8 acres of land, on which the PDC Office presently sits. BPO Prime will represent the prime business hub in Malaysia‘s Multimedia Super-Corridor (MSC) at Penang Cyber City 1, Bayan Lepas, with a Gross Development Value (GDV) of RM1.3 billion, and Gross Floor Area (GFA) of minimum 1.6 million sq ft. The timeline for construction/completion is from 2016 – 2019.
There is a shortage of Grade A office space for SSO and BPOs. When we first launched Penang as a BPO hub in line with the prediction of Penang as one of the 31 BPO hubs of the future, we did not expect the strong response from the services sector. Apart from local Multi National Corporations already setting up their manufacturing companies here in Penang, we have new entries filling up our Grade A office space such as Air Asia, Wilmar, Dell, Motorola, IHS Inc, First Solar, Toll Global Forwarding, JED ( subsidiary of Jurong Shipyard), EG R&D and most recently, Osram. For instance, Citigroup, the global financial services giant, has its Citigroup Global Financial Credit Transaction Services centre in Penang, employing more than 1,000 local employees who processes an annual volume of 25 million transactions worth USD6 trillion. If Citigroup can have a 24 hours global services centre in Penang, clearly we have the capacity, capability and human talent to be a BPO hub.
The SSO sector has achieved rapid growth over the years; the revenue has doubled from RM 6.39 billion in 2009 to RM 12.79 billion in 2013. Malaysia has consecutively been ranked the world’s 3rd SSO destination by the global management consulting firm AT Kearney since 2004, after India and China. The MSC Malaysia SSO cluster contributed RM5.8 billion to the nation’s GDP in 2012, up 32% from 2011. In Penang alone, the cumulative investments for SSO companies with MSC status between the years 2009 until 2014 have reached RM 4.073 billion. Penang’s SSO is providing more than 8,000 high income jobs to locals and serving both regional and global markets. These numbers are expected to increase by 60% in the next three years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The State Government and PDC’s Industry Vision is to enhance the 3rd wave of development in the State of Penang in the services sector, encompassing SSO, BPO, Research & Development (R+D), Design & Development (D+D) in ICT, advance manufacturing and life sciences. In other words the key thrust is to achieve convergence in the manufacturing, services and public sector. New industries and sectors will be established to create synergies.
I am therefore pleased to note that BPO Prime will provide the catalyst for the following benefits in Penang’s industrial transformation:
- Create new cluster economic development in BPO, KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing & ITO (Information Technology Outsourcing).
- Home to multinational companies especially Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local tech companies.
- Estimated job creation of 4,000 high income and quality jobs.
- Provision of world class environment and ecosystem to attract investments from global companies.
BPO Prime’s high value added services hub will include customer operations, data processing, back office administration, accounting, technical support, transcription, software development, IT consultancy and disaster recovery services.
The BPO Prime will ensure progress on all 3 fronts i.e. economic vibrancy, liveability and sustainability, and social development. Hence a major social environmental spill over of the projects is that it will accelerate Penang to become a balanced society that will nurture world class ideas, provide impetus for public private sector participation and investment and to provide the necessary public infrastructure to ensure enhancement of social welfare.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that the State Government’s vision is for Penang to once again be a regional hub that will build, upgrade, attract and retain international talent.
Penang can only do this by becoming an international and intelligent State – one that educates and nurtures talent; one that promotes and rewards diligence, expertise and entrepreneurship; one that is liveable by being clean, green, safe and healthy; and one that practices integrity, justice and people-centric governance.
This BPO Prime project, with collaboration from Temasek and EDIS will be an important benchmark and an important step towards attracting world class investors to Penang.
Thank you.