Penang cautious on 2009 investment outlook

 

AFTER comfortably beating its investment targets this year, Penang expects smaller investments as multinationals will be cautious about spending because of the global economic slowdown.

Although Penang is set to exceed its initial target of RM3.8 billion this year with RM8 billion, the outlook for 2009 remains unclear.

Invest-in-Penang Bhd (investPenang) executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon yesterday said future investments can be expected for worldwide activities in research and development, design and shared services.

"Future trends for investments will no longer be focused on machinery but more towards group operations for the world," he told reporters in Penang on the fringes of a trade seminar on the development of logistics and transport in Malaysia.

"The encouraging feedback we have received so far is from the medical devices sector," he added, "which appears to be recession-proof."

Suppliers with single-products may encounter problems, while some of the factories operating in Penang are generally adopting a cautious approach to business.

Lee said the state expects to stick with the country's projected 3.5 per cent economic growth rate for next year.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that American cardiovascular medical devices maker St Jude Medical Inc has begun recruiting staff for its new plant on Penang island.

The company, which employs over 10,000 staff globally, is set to create 500 high-end jobs when it begins operations next year.

Sources said the group plans to invest an initial RM100 million in Penang to set up Asia's first pacemaker manufacturing plant.