PENANG UNVEILS PLANS FOR OWN IC DESIGN PARK

PETALING JAYA: The Penang government has unveiled its plans for the establishment of a 1 million sq ft integrated circuit (IC) design and digital park in Bayan Lepas.

“Banking on the five decades of industrial excellence, Penang is making steady progress in cementing its position as the Silicon Valley of the East,” chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said.

“To further promote IC design, we are offering a subsidised rental rate for office space (at the proposed park). In addition, we will be applying to the federal government for an incentive package that will be announced subsequently.

“With the 1 million sq ft of premium office space, poised to be the largest in the nation, we commit to continue delivering exceptional infrastructure, conducive facilities, and attractive amenities to anchor Penang’s pioneer position in the IC design and digital industries.”

InvestPenang, the state government’s investment arm, said the two-phase project at the Bayan Lepas industrial park will start with the GBS By The Sea and GBS TechSpace project, consisting of 350,000 sq ft of premium office space, at a total cost of RM347 million.

It said the second phase of the park would add another building named GBS@TechnoPlex at a cost of RM308 million. This would take up an additional 500,000 sq ft by 2027.

Previously, former chief minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present at today’s event, had called on Chow to explain how the state had lost a multimillion-ringgit IC design project to Selangor.

“Penang should have vied for the project in the first place,” Lim said.

In response, Chow said Penang is still committed to boosting its economy through strategic investments, including nurturing local IC design companies.

Recently, Selangor announced that it will be building an IC design park in Bandar Puteri, Puchong. Work on the project is expected to begin in July.

Notable tech-related companies such as ARM Limited and Phison Malaysia have made commitments to set up operations in the park, touted to be the largest in Southeast Asia.

ARM, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank, is renowned for its intellectual property cores (IP cores) used by global tech giants. An IP core is a reusable integrated circuit layout design.

SoftBank licenses its designs to more than 1,000 firms such as Apple, Microsoft and Samsung.

Phison Malaysia, founded in 2000 by Pua Khein-Seng, renowned for creating the world’s first single-chip USB flash drive, is an independent supplier of NAND Flash controllers and an extensive storage solutions provider.

2024-05-04T05:31:07Z dg43tfdfdgfd