PENANG is vying for reinvestments, special investment adviser to the Penang chief minister, Lee Kah Choon said on the state’s outlook amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I am comfortable with Penang’s prospects this year as we are likely to see more reinvestments from investors who are already here,” the InvestPenang director told The Malaysian Insight.

“We are doubling our efforts to promote reinvestment.”

To this end, electrical and electronics – a key sector in the Silicon Valley of the East – as well as medical devices, are the targeted sectors.

According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority investment report for the first quarter of this year, Penang saw the second largest approved investments in the manufacturing sector after Sabah, accounting for RM7.1 billion of the country’s total of RM25.24 billion.

Of the RM7.1 billion, foreign investment made up RM6.7 billion, while domestic investment only amounted to RM321.1 million.

Last year, the state’s manufacturing sector saw a total proposed capital investment of RM16.85 billion, with RM15 billion coming from foreign sources.

Penang, which was among the top five states with the highest foreign direct investment in the last decade, has more than 300 multinational companies and 3,000 small and medium enterprises.

However, Lee said Penang, too, was not spared from the impact of Covid-19.

“Covid-19 is a global pandemic. It affects all countries equally. Likewise, on the investment front,” he said.

Attracting investors will depend on how the state contains the pandemic, the standard operating procedure for investors to operate and foreign labour policies.

“For Penang, our advantage has been the availability of talent and the supply chain in E&E, as well as a conducive environment to work, live and play.”

Penang is also one of few green-zone states, without a new infection recorded since May 4. – August 2, 2020.