PUTRAJAYA: The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) is anticipating an "exciting year" ahead as it plans to further engage with local companies to boost economic growth in the northern states.
Its chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq said the private sector had so far been "tremendously encouraging", with more than half of the investments recorded last year coming from Malaysian firms.
Last year, investments valued at RM6.08bil poured into the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), of which RM3.24bil or 53% was from the local private sector. The NCER saw RM2.84bil worth of foreign investments last year.
"The value of investments secured last year was a big increase from the RM1.4bil we secured between 2008 and 2009.
"The RM6.08bil is set to contribute RM11.4bil to the Gross National Income by 2020, providing people in the northern states with 15,000 employment opportunities," he said yesterday.
NCER added four new projects to its list of development initiatives to spur economic activities worth RM155.5mil in Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis.
The exchange of agreements between the NCIA and DNJ Spa Cande Sdn Bhd, Energy Impulse Sdn Bhd, Frutania Industry Sdn Bhd and QAV Technologies Sdn Bhd was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Prime Minister had earlier chaired the sixth NCIA meeting, which was attended by the mentris besar of Perak, Perlis and Kedah –Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Datuk Seri Md Isa Sabu and Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak – and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
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