The Penang state government welcomes the announcement by Chinese President Xi Jinping that a new China Consulate-General office will be set up in Penang. The new China’s Consulate-General Office in Penang reflects the burgeoning increase in Chinese arrivals by 50% for tourism and business air travellers at the Penang International Airport.
The 50% increase was recorded for the period between 2012 compared to 2011 and again another 50% increase for the first 6 months of 2013 compared to the corresponding period in 2012. The involvement of Chinese contractors in the RM 4.5 billion 2nd Penang Bridge project and the RM 1.2 billion expansion of the Mengkuang Dam is a strong indication of the growing presence of Chinese companies.
Tomorrow’s signing of the largest civil works infrastructure project in Penang history with Chinese contractors for the construction of four major highways worth RM6.3 billion, including Malaysia’s first undersea tunnel linking Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam, will only deepen trade links between both China and Penang. Hopefully these trade links will be bolstered by increased tourism arrivals.
The opening of the China Consulate General office follows the opening of the Bank of China branch in Penang last year. The China Consulate-General office will be the fourth one in Penang after the Consulate-General office of Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. This brings the number of foreign representations including Honorary Consuls(14) to 18, the second highest number of foreign representations in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur.
China’s new Consulate-General office is an acknowledgment of Penang’s growing importance as an international and intelligent city, and the second city in Malaysia with a UNESCO World Heritage city of George Town, tourist destination and a world-class manufacturing cluster in electronics and medical devices as well as health tourism hub. The opening of the new China Consulate-General office will also assist the Penang state government’s efforts to establish Penang as a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Hub for shared services in financial services, accounting and data processing.
The Penang state government is confident that the new China Consulate-General office marks a new active phase of Chinese investment and tourism into Penang that will be mutually beneficial, especially when both Penang and Xiamen are celebrating our 20th anniversary as a sister city.