By V. Chandrasekaran
Kedah is fast shedding its sleepy hollow image, thanks to a thriving high-tech industrial park and heavy industries centre.
Kulim, located about 60km from Sungai Petani, was a relatively unknown sleepy hollow years back.
But it now houses the Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP), the first hi-tech industrial park in the country to be accorded Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status in early July.
The new status is a landmark achievement for Kulim as it is expected to draw more investments into the park, provide more job opportunities and improve the overall living standard of the people in Kulim.
“It is a proud achievement for KHTP. This will result in more employment and business opportunities which will then trigger greater economic growth in Kulim,” said Kulim Technology Park Corp (KTPC) group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Shukri Tajuddin.
The brainchild of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, KHTP was launched in 1996 and covers 1,440ha.
Now it houses 33 companies, of which 15 are involved in semi-conductor related products; the others are service-related companies.
Among the companies are wafer fabrication plant Silterra (M) Sdn Bhd with US$1.2bil (RM4.56bil) in total investment, Celestica and Intel Corp.
To date, KHTP has attracted RM16bil in total investment.
The setting up of KHTP has also set the momentum for further growth in Kulim.
“Since we launched the park, the spill-over effect is enormous, especially for the district of Kulim and Kedah on the whole. Now KHTP has a total workforce of 10,500 skilled workers,” said Ahmad Shukri.
“We have created many jobs for the people in Kulim. Workers who were once machine operators have moved one rung up. They are now skilled workers.”
Kulim, which has a population of 200,000, was declared a municipality on Aug 30, 2001 .
People who were largely involved in estate jobs and farming in Kulim have now become skilled workers earning handsome incomes, thanks to KHTP.
Other than industrial development, the KTPC group of companies are also involved in the property sector.
KTPC started developing Kulim Perdana township at the park in 2002.
KHTP is also a centre of excellence for educational activities. It houses the RM25mil state-of-the-art Techno Centre, a polytechnic college and the Malaysian Spanish Institute.
The Techno Centre houses a robotic centre, a biotechnology centre and a metal fabrication centre.
The Kulim Advanced Education Corporation, also located in the park, offers degree courses in electronics, instrumentation and microelectronics.
“We are building a self-contained township here. All the components within the township will be developed. Other than residential areas, there will also be shophouses and a community centre,” said Ahmad Shukri.
“It is our hope that the park would be turned into a science city one day, preferably a centre of excellence in wafer fabrication,’’ he added.http://202.184.114.102/news/story.asp?file=/2004/9/9/state/8784335&sec=mi_kedah |
