PENANG will definitely offer a distinct experience to delegates of the World Congress on Information Technology 2022 (WCIT 2022), says InvestPenang chief executive officer Datuk Loo Lee Lian.
Invited as one of the speakers in an exclusive interactive panel discussion on ‘WCIT 2022 – Connecting Malaysia to The World’ recently, Loo said Penang takes pride in being a Unesco World Heritage Site, a world-renowned colourful tourist destination and a rich melting pot of cultural diversity, excellent and strategic in location and international accessibility.
“Most importantly, Penang is a high-tech global base with the excellent backdrop of robust E&E ecosystem and semicon industry,” said Loo, who helms InvestPenang, the state government’s investment agency.
The panel discussion was organised by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) in conjunction with Malaysia Tech Months.
The other speakers were Pikom (National Tech Association of Malaysia) CEO Ong Kian Yew, MDEC senior vice-president, investment and brand & chief marketing officer Raymond Siva, Witsa (World IT and Services Alliance) and Pikom deputy chairman Dr Sean Seah, WCIT 2022 organising chairman Cheah Kok Hoong, and Witsa secretary-general Dr James Poisant.
They had an informative discussion on how WCIT 2022 is going to make an impact to Malaysia, to position Malaysia and Penang as the hub of digital Asean and connecting Malaysia to the world.
The panellists opined that WCIT2022 would be a key factor for Malaysia economic recovery and a platform to bridging the digital divide and ensuring that the needs of most vulnerable in society are addressed.
The WCIT event was supposed to be held in Penang in 2020 after Malaysia had been chosen as host after a lapse of more than 10 years but it was postponed to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Malaysia last hosted the WCIT event in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 and managed to secure total sales and investments worth RM8.3 billion with 20,000 jobs created.
It was reported that 800 business meetings were held over the event, creating more than RM1.24 billion in business opportunities for the Malaysian information and communications (ICT) technology industry.
Because of the postponement of the WCIT 2020, Penang held a virtual three-day Techfest Live in November 2020 featuring Road-to-WCIT 2022 which gave local start-ups and technology companies great exposure globally.
For the WCIT 2022, Penang is hoping the Covid-19 situation will improve so that it can host it physically and virtually to reach a bigger audience.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix courtesy of InvestPenang