Penang expects to create 27,000 new job opportunities

Career advancement: Visitors checking out the booths at the 9th Penang Career & Postgraduate Expo 2011 at the Penang International Sports Arena

 By KOW KWAN YEE  kowky@thestar.com.my

Penang foresees opportunities opening with record RM12.2 billion FDI inflows
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PENANG expects to create 27,000 new job opportunities this year after the state managed to attract a record of RM12.238bil worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) last year.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the state government expected the new job opportunities would flow in together with the inflow of foreign capital.

The jobs would be mostly be located in the electronics and electrical sector (E & E), Chow said after opening the Ninth Penang Career and Postgraduate Jobs Expo on Saturday.

He said Penang was also facing an acute shortage of electronic engineers and this needed to be addressed fast.

Career advancement: Visitors checking out the booths at the 9th Penang Career & Postgraduate Expo 2011 at the Penang International Sports Arena

On the expo, Chow said it was considered timely as it could help create greater and quality employment prospects which would further develop Penang’s economy.

Also, an international electronic manufacturing company from Shanghai, China, had set up a booth at the expo to source for Malaysian workers.

It was one of three foreign firms which were offering employment opportunities.


Hi-P International Co Ltd’s human resources supervisor Tina Yao said many foreign companies valued Malaysian workers for their skills and good conduct.

Yao said that last year was the first time that her company took part in the expo and it had recruited many Malaysians.

“This is why the company decided to join the expo for the second time, to recruit more engineers, particularly in the E & E sector,” she said.

Yao said most of the jobs offered by Hi-P were for managerial-level posts and in the research and development field.

“Most of the posts offered were based in Shanghai, while some are in Suzhou,” she said, adding that the company had representative offices in Singapore, Thailand, China, the United States, Poland and Mexico.

“We are willing to pay a salary of 30% more than the local market pricing,” she added.

The other two foreign companies were from Singapore and they were seeking for security officers and customer service personnel.

Organised by PenExpo Events Sdn Bhd, the event featured some 3,000 vacancies offered by over 50 employers with more than 70 booths set up including from the manufacturing sector and universities.