The Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Perak branch had its annual luncheon at the Impiana Hotel, Ipoh recently.
The get-together was aimed at strengthening ties between members of the Chambers and to address issues that are affecting industries in the country today.
Chairman of the MICCI Perak branch, Dato’ Lim Si Boon, took the opportunity to highlight a few issues that are affecting the productivity and efficiency of businesses.
“We’re lacking in the infrastructure aspect. Even though Unifi is available in certain areas in Perak, it doesn’t cover most industrial estates and business centres in Ipoh, Taiping and Manjung.
“Furthermore, transportation infrastructure affects the productivity of the industries. The KL-bound ETS service is doing extremely well and has brought us more tourists, but it’s at the expense of cargo transportation. Even with a larger capacity, cargo train frequency has not increased. With the right infrastructure system, I believe Perak doors could be opened to the world and businesses can and will be more productive,” he remarked.
Lim urged both the private and public sectors to work closer to turn Perak into a more vibrant and dynamic business location.
Executive Councillor for Health and Non-Islamic Affairs, Dato’ Dr. Mah Hang Soon added that Perak is a state with many opportunities. The state government had managed to bring in an estimated RM840 million worth of investments in the first half of this year. He concurred with Lim’s assertion that cooperation between the private and public sectors was needed to bring Perak’s economy to another level.
Present at the luncheon was the Chairperson of Air Asia X and former Minister of Industry and International Trading, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.
Incidentally, MICCI Perak celebrates its 102th Anniversary this year. It was established in 1911 under the chairmanship of W.R.H. Chappel of Messrs Osborne and Chappel.
Yvette
