Industrial Park Forum for Southern Region was held to address the needs to develop the next generation of industrial parks in Malaysia.
Industrial Park developers are urged to create substantive systemic change to ensure the enhancement and redevelopment of industrial parks in the country are sustainably met.
With the theme of “Strengthening Malaysia Manufacturing Ecosystem”, it was the second event of the series and was jointly organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).
“With the Industry 4.0 being underway, the country needs the industrial infrastructure and facilities to be up to the mark.
“There is a critical need for the park developers to develop the next generation of industrial clusters that are well equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure to cater to the next wave of industries,” said International Trade and Industry deputy minister, Dr. Ong Kian Ming.
Dr. Ong highlighted that although there are more than 500 industrial parks available throughout the country, majority of these parks are not able to meet investors’ requirements.
Not only that, most companies, particularly foreign investors are becoming more demanding in terms of good infrastructure for the industrial park and amenities with eco-friendly features and of international standards within the self-contained township.
“Industrial parks are the key elements of infrastructure that support the growth of today’s global economy.
“A well-developed park can be an incubator to attract high quality investments into the country, and hence, we have to re-engineer our industrial parks to meet the demand of investors,” said MIDA deputy chief executive officer, Arham Abdul Rahman.
The forum was joined by various stakeholders including business chambers, local authorities, park developers and managers, utility companies, manufacturers and potential investors.
The forum featured a broad range of speakers from UEM Sunrise Berhad, Sime Darby Property Berhad, Iskandar Halal Park, AME Development, Malaysian French Chamber of Commerce Industry, Hersheys Malaysia, i2m Ventures, Almer Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).
It was also announced that MIDA and FMM will be publishing a Directory of Industrial Parks in Malaysia that will serve as a single reference point for investors and industry players to identify suitable locations for their facilities.
The Directory is expected to be finalised and published after the completion of the Industrial Park Forum series.
It will entail all available industrial parks in Malaysia, by state in terms of type, size and price to assist investors make well-informed business decisions.