By Alang Bendahara
SHAH ALAM, March 7 — The state government’s Selangor Week featured at the Expo 2020 Dubai will showcase the state’s premier location as Malaysia’s business hub and in the region.
State executive councillor for trade and investment Dato’ Teng Chang Khim said the delegations involved would hold 120 business meetings with foreign companies and investors from 192 participating countries during the five-day event from March 6 to 12.
Themed Smart Selangor: Towards a Productive, Liveable and Sustainable Future as a Smart State, the exhibition is located at the Malaysia Pavillion.
“Selangor’s strategic location with two major international airports and the Asean’s second-largest container port (Port Klang), as well as several advanced domestic rails, road and air that links to economic centres within the country, makes the state one of the most attractive business hubs to connect investors to Asean and global markets,”
“Selangor also boasts about 3.6 million workforces, who are largely skilled and multilingual,” he said during a live online press conference today.
Teng said that Selangor’s strength and efforts towards sustainability would be the key highlights to push for investments in key priority sectors during the international expo.
Meanwhile, Teng said the state administration had not yet set any target on the signing of the investment and trade as it sees the expo as a platform to strengthen its relations and share ideas with the participating countries.
He said the 15 participating companies under Selangor Week would promote the state’s five core industries for investment, namely electrical and electronics, life sciences (biotechnology), transport and equipment (aerospace), machinery and equipment, and food and beverages.
He said the state would also promote the ecosystem in newly introduced services in tourism, ICT and e-commerce, logistic and digital investment.
Among the sharing sessions held are Tourism Selangor and Sepang Goldcoast, which will promote sustainable tourism growth in the state.
“Four other agencies, namely Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB), Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), Central Spectrum and Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad Waste Management (KDEBWM), will discuss the potential business opportunities in Selangor.
“While major port players namely Port Klang Authority, Westports Holdings, Northport Malaysia and Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) will be sharing the logistics capabilities and why Selangor is the preferred logistics hub,” he said.
Other participating companies include the Halal International Selangor (HIS), Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre, Smart Selangor Delivery Unit (SSDU), and the Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec).
“Invest Selangor as the coordinator of Selangor Week will also share the investment initiatives and opportunities including digital investment,” he said.
Teng said Selangor had always aspired to be the best investment destination in the region and had been an economic powerhouse in Malaysia for over a decade.
“Selangor also keeps on developing favourable ecosystems for industries to set up their operations in the state.
“We hope Selangor’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai will be a window of opportunity for the state to showcase its advantages and strengths to attract more investments into the country and to the state,” he said.
Also present during the press conference was Invest Selangor Berhad chief executive officer Dato’ Hasan Azhari Idris.
