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August 15, 2024  – Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and InvestPenang delegates have returned from their 10-day investment and trade mission to the United States from 4 to 14 August, organised by InvestPenang. The primary objectives of the trip were to renew ties and strengthen relationships with the corporate headquarters of American investors in Penang, encourage the expansion of their Penang sites, and attract new investments.

During the meetings, key discussions revolved around the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on critical sectors, with previews of their potential applications and innovations. The dialogues highlighted Penang’s strategic importance in the global supply chain given the current geopolitical tension. The discussions also underscored the exceptional capabilities of Penang’s talent pool in sustaining and enhancing the local ecosystem. Notably, there was as a strong emphasis on the urgent need for renewable energy adoption and Penang’s strategic direction towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.

The delegates presented two of Penang’s recent initiatives to the corporate headquarters in the United States: (1) Penang Silicon Design @5km+, designed to drive innovation in the industry by creating a comprehensive hub within a close proximity of 5km+ within Bayan Lepas for IC design startups and (2) Penang STEM Talent Blueprint, with a vision to build a highly skilled and sustainable STEM workforce for Penang and to support the NIMP 2030 and National Semiconductor Strategy, which targets to achieve 60,000 engineers by 2030. These initiatives are poised to further solidify Penang’s position as a hub for innovation and technological advancement.

During this 10-day trip, the Chief Minister and InvestPenang delegates participated in a total of 22 official strategic meetings and site visits, engaging with existing and potential investors. They spent the first four days of the trip in San Jose to visit potential and existing companies such as MKS Instruments, Brooks Instrument, Lattice Semiconductor, AMD, Synopsys, Efinix, Agilent, Coherent, SambaNova and Western Digital. They then travelled to Seattle, San Diego and Los Angeles for the remaining six days to meet with Centific, Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), Dexcom, Cohu, UST, TTM Technologies, Mattel and potential investors.

This investment and trade mission to the United States not only offered better insights into the future of AI and new technologies engaged by existing and potential investors but also served as a significant step toward reinforcing our existing partnerships and laying the groundwork for future growth. The collaborative efforts and feedback gathered during this trip will undoubtably strengthened economic ties and continued prosperity for both Penang and our international partners.

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About InvestPenang
InvestPenang is the Penang State Government’s principal agency for the promotion of investment. Its objectives are to develop and sustain Penang’s economy by enhancing and continuously supporting business activities in the State through foreign and local investments, including spawning viable new growth centers. To realize its objectives, InvestPenang also runs initiatives like the SMART Penang Center (providing assistance to SMEs), Penang CAT Center (for talent attraction and retention), and Global Business Services (GBS) Focus Group (promoting and developing digital economy). For more information, please visit https://investpenang.gov.my/ and follow InvestPenang’s social media channels: Facebook; LinkedIn; Whatsapp Channel.

For media enquiries, please contact:
InvestPenang
Elaine Cheah / Michelle Goy
Communications & Business Intelligence
Email: elaine@investpenang.gov.my / michelle@investpenang.gov.my
Phone: +604- 646 8833