Deputy Minister Optimistic Japanese Hi-Techs Can Be Lured To Invest In Northern Corridor

From Massita Ahmad KYOTO, April 24 (Bernama) -- International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister is optimistic the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) will be able to convince more Japanese high-tech companies to invest in the corridor. "My hope is for more Japanese companies to seriously look at the Northern Corridor as an area that fits very nicely with what they have in mind. "(At the corridor) some are agriculture-based companies but (we hope for) more high-tech companies," Mukhriz Mahathir told Bernama. The deputy minister is leading a-28 member trade and investment mission to Kyoto and Nagoya beginning Monday. The NCIA, covering four states namely Northern part of Perak, Kedah, Perlis and Penang, is participating in the two-day mission headed by its Chief Executive Redza Rafiq. The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) attracted the largest investments last year with RM15.3 billion approved manufacturing licences. At Nagoya, NCIA is eyeing potential investors in the automotive, advanced ceramics, machinery & equipment, engineering services, electronics, advanced electronic devices & components and aerospace components industries. The NCIA is the statutory body responsible for setting directions, policies and programmes for the NCER with four key thrust areas, namely agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and logistics. (US$1=RM3.06) -- BERNAMA