Penang signs with Temasek to set up RM11.3b SSO hub

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Development Corp (PDC) has signed an agreement with Singapore's Temasek Holdings to establish a RM11.3 billion gross development value shared services hub in Bayan Lepas and Batu Kawan, according to InvestPenang director Datuk Lee Kah Choon.
Lee said PDC will make way for the setting up of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Prime office building at the current 2.7 hectare site (ha) and the Penang International Technology Park will be developed on a 80ha site at the mainland.
He said BPO Prime would take about three years to established, with the proposal including a 25-storey large office floor plan tower and a 29-storey small office tower. While PITP is targeted to be completed in stages by 2021 with the area segmented into different industries, which will include a medical hub and advanced technology parks.
"The construction cost is about RM8 billion and given a multiplier effect of times three, we are looking at a project which can contribute some RM24 billion to the economy," Lee said in a media briefing yesterday.
He also expressed his optimism over filling the more than 838,000 sq m of office space the two projects will create as he said there was interest from many companies in locating their businesses in Penang.
Lee said the demand was there for office space which were Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) certified and green building index (GBI) certified of which the two projects were planned to be.
"If I have the building tomorrow, I can fill them up immediately," he quipped.
The venture sees Penang looking to tap into the US$458 billion (RM1.4 trillion) SSO industry.