Penang close to securing US$200m investments

GEORGE TOWN: Two hi-tech firms are set to invest up to US$100 million (RM353 million) each at the industrial estates on mainland Penang, said InvestPenang Bhd executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon.

He said the firms, one of which is from the US, were currently in negotiations with the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to buy land at the Bukit Minyak Industrial Estate or the Science Park in Juru.

Lee said the new investments were expected to be sealed soon, after the finalisation of a few issues.

The companies were keen to commence operations as soon as possible, Lee said in his media update of investments and employment in the state on June 17.

However, he declined to reveal further details as the agreements have yet to be finalised.

“These are both totally new investments. Both are involved in hi-tech industries, one of them part of a supply chain for certain industries, and once they commence operations will employ hundreds of engineers each for their operations,” Lee said.

New foreign investments in Penang this year include those by St Jude’s Medical Devices, Chakra Biotech and US-based National Instruments.

St Jude’s Medical Devices is investing RM108 million and employing up to 1,000 workers to produce cardia rhythm management products. The facility would be fully operational in 2011.

Chakra Biotech is investing RM8 million to produce new drugs and screening service by the end of this year, while National Instruments’ RM280 million investment will provide 1,500 jobs when it is fully operational.

Lee also said Penang Career Assistance and Training (CAT) centre, in collaboration with the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), was allocating 100 places in two training programmes to SPM/SPVM school-leavers and job-seekers from families registered under Penang’s Hard Core Poor Programme.

The training programmes are in precision machining technology and water management certification. The trainees will enjoy free tuition and a special monthly allowance of RM800 each during the training period.

Parliament: 39 websites, blogs banned (Update)

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Bangkok

Knock It Off: A Thai Museum for Counterfeit Goods

By Gary Jones / Bangkok Monday, Jun. 08, 2009

Bangkok's Museum of Counterfeit Goods

Courtesy of Tilleke & Gibbins

It was a typical evening stroll along Bangkok's bustling Sukhumvit Road, among the ramshackle stalls that line that tourist-magnet thoroughfare. I landed one knockoff Fred Perry polo shirt in navy blue and a pirated DVD copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Both purchases were mildly disappointing: the shirt, once I tried it on back at the hotel, appeared to have been made not from cotton but from itchy polyester — hardly ideal for the sticky Thai climate. The Hollywood blockbuster had been dubbed into Russian. I cursed the waste of 10 bucks on shoddy merchandise.

By the following afternoon, this buyer's remorse had morphed into full-blown guilt. Clemence Gautier, an intellectual-property consultant with law firm Tilleke & Gibbins, took me on a tour of Bangkok's Museum of Counterfeit Goods, a 1,070-sq.-ft. (100 sq m) Aladdin's cave of thousands of illicit products. Incongruously chic, with its polished wooden floor, shimmering glass display cases and subdued lighting, the museum is incorporated into the firm's offices on the 26th floor of downtown Bangkok's Supalai Grand Tower. (Read about the war on knockoff bags.)

According to Gautier, stallholders on Sukhumvit are not the main beneficiaries of transactions like mine. Criminal gangs are behind Asia's black market in fake goods, and misguided shoppers like me inadvertently support child labor, human-trafficking and other nefarious undertakings by indulging in the cheap goods. The directness of the revelation is sobering. "Money spent on counterfeits is easy profit for criminal organizations," the soft-spoken French native insists, "and supports other activities like prostitution and drugs."

As Gautier spoke, she stood in front of a large wall of contraband streetwear. Lacoste, Adidas, Kappa, DKNY: all the labels and logos so prevalent on Sukhumvit as well as in the backpacker ghetto of Khaosan Road and in neon-drenched Patpong Market were on display. A Fred Perry shirt hung there, accusingly, in pink. "In countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, very often it's kids involved in the manufacturing," Gautier says. "People think, 'Oh, it's just a T shirt and it's no real harm,' but we try to explain where the money is going. What if a 10-year-old girl is working every day to make those T shirts?"

Established in 1890, Tilleke & Gibbins is Thailand's oldest law firm. It got involved in intellectual-property law in the early 1980s, and by 1989 the company had stockpiled so many phony bags, clothing and sunglasses as evidence in its IP cases that a senior partner decided they could do a valuable public service by putting them on display. In today's troubled economic times, the role of the appointment-only museum is arguably growing in importance as consumers worldwide become desperate for bargains. Security experts with the Hong Kong–based consultancy Asia Risk recently estimated that international trade in counterfeit goods could rise to nearly $1 trillion in 2009. The business has long exceeded the value of the global narcotics trade.

As early as 2005, in fact, high-end fashion houses like Burberry and Louis Vuitton were warning that profits from cheap reproductions of their desirable goods might be used to fund terrorist organizations. Many people were skeptical of alarm bells emanating from such well-heeled manufacturers until Interpol backed up the claims. "North African radical fundamentalist groups in Europe, al-Qaeda and Hizballah all derive income from counterfeiting," John Newton, an Interpol officer specializing in intellectual-property crime, told the London Times in 2005 when it came to light. "This crime has the potential to become the preferred source of funding for terrorists."

The most surprising thing about the Museum of Counterfeit Goods, however, is the sheer diversity of its exhibits. Any tourist in Bangkok would be familiar with the knockoff Rolex and Tag Heuer watches, the G-Star jeans, the Nike sneakers. But ripoff shampoo and candy? Toothpaste that might have been cobbled together in a grubby lab on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh? Ballpoint pens? Staples? For a moment the guilt dissipates and I wonder why I've sacrificed an afternoon to a museum showcasing the most basic wares to be found in any stationery store. (I could, after all, be at Bangkok's Siriraj Medical Museum, where stands on display the preserved corpse of Thailand's most notorious serial killer and cannibal, as well as a deformed human testicle 18 in., or 45 cm, in diameter.)

But a skip through the Counterfeit Museum is not about macabre trivia. In many cases, the global trade in fakes is a matter of life and death. Fake pharmaceutical drugs — their active ingredients either missing or present in insufficient volumes to be effective — are proving increasingly difficult to discern by IP investigators. "The technology used to copy holograms [on packaging] is so good now that manufacturers have to change them all the time," Gautier said. "It's difficult to stay in front." Gautier also explains that product-counterfeiting, as with legitimate industries, is frequently determined by geography, and some countries have developed expertise in certain products. Cambodia, for instance, is to knockoff name-brand cigarettes what Belgium is to quality chocolates. Malaysia pumps out pirated DVD movies faster than the Scots can sink single malts. And China? Secreted factories across China are copying just about everything you can imagine, says Gautier. "If there's money to be made, there's not much that people will not to try to copy these days."

While I am heading back to the hotel in a taxi, one of Bangkok's countless motorbike taxis weaves erratically through the traffic. A young woman rides sidesaddle behind its rider, and I flinch at the potential for tragedy. There was a complete scooter on display in the museum, and Gautier had informed me that every single component — tires, brakes, fuel tank and all — had been manufactured on the sly. As the taxi veers east onto Sukhumvit Road, the traders are busy erecting their stalls for another evening of busy commerce. But me? Tonight I'll hole up in the hotel. I'll chuck that shirt in the garbage, order a pizza (is it possible to fake a pizza?) and watch a movie on HBO. Shopping is just too scary.

National Instruments secures land in Batu Maung for Penang operations

Last year, I chanced upon a press conference by US-based multi-national company National Instruments to announce their investment of USD80 million in Penang. So this year, it should be appropriate that I follow up on this matter.

Yesterday, National Instruments' vice-president of manufacturing Rob Poterfield (the one shaking hands, on the right) was in Penang to ink a land lease agreement with the Penang Development Corporation. The occasion was witnessed by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P Ramasamy.

At a press conference after the event, Poterfield said that about 1,500 jobs would be created when they begin recruiting workers for its planned research and development facility in Batu Maung. Those recruited would be sent for extensive on-the-job training at the National Instruments headquarters in Austin, Texas, for a year.

“We have secured 6.8ha of land in Batu Maung for the facility which cost us about RM36mil. We hope the site can be ready by next year. The company is developing the facility as part of our ongoing plan to expand our global operations."

"Malaysia offers an exceptionally skilled workforce that can help National Instruments provide engineers and scientists with the hardware and software they need to develop the innovative applications that are improving our world," said Robert Canik, vice-president of R&D for instrument and distributed control at National Instruments. "This talent-rich environment was a key factor in selecting Malaysia, and Penang in particular, as the site for our new R&D operations facility, and we are excited that the people of Penang will be an integral part of our companys success."

The company develops and manufactures software as well as hardware for engineers and scientists. Poterfield said the recruitment included posts in manufacturing, product development, R&D, shared services, information technology and finance. “In the next few years we plan to invest about RM280mil in Penang,” Poterfield said.

"National Instruments is bringing high-value jobs to Penang and we are confident that the people here have the training and aptitude necessary to deliver tremendous value to National Instruments," said Guan Eng. "Penang offers many resources that make it a competitive business environment, and we are pleased that National Instruments is making such a significant contribution here."

Courtesy of Quah, Seng-Sun

National Instruments investing USD 80 million in Penang Plant

Two days ago, I briefly dropped by the ballroom at Hotel Equatorial to witness a press conference called by US-based National Instruments to announce their investment of USD80 million into their new facilities in Penang.

I was a bit late so I did not get to see the Chief Minister speak but I learnt later that National Instruments would be setting up their new R&D and operations facilities on a 6.8-hectare site on the island. It's targeted to employ about 1,500 people when it opens in 2010 but of course, spill-over effect on the local economy - SMEs and other support services - will benefit even more of the local population. I also learnt that this million-dollar deal was only sealed 17 days earlier so I'm quite impressed by the speed with which this announcement was made public. There's a will shown by the state government to get things moving fast. I like it: it's professional.

The plant will be NI's first in the Asean region and third major global operations centre. NI president and CEO Dr James Truchard (left) said their management team had visited many countries and finally settled on Penang because of the environment, highly skilled workforce and the close proximity of the plant to the Asian market. "Our goal is to be a major centre of manufacturing and R&D globally by 2015 when the plant is running at full capacity."

And their CFO and senior VP of manufacturing and IT operations, Alex Devern (right), added that Penang was selected because of the availability of electrical and electronics resources. "We anticipate that by 2015, this site will be capable of generating 40 percent of global revenue amounting to approximately US$650 million annually."

NI is a global leader in computer-based measurement and automation hardware with its headquarters in Austin, Texas. It has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries.

Courtesy of Quah, Seng-Sun

New incentives for buying original music

SHAH ALAM: The local music industry is having a hard time selling digital song downloads and blames it on the rampant piracy fostered by P2P (peer-to-peer) filesharing platforms.

So, the next best thing for the music barons to do is give away digital music as a value-add whenever someone buys an MP3 player.

senQ appliance stores is giving away songs when you buy any Samsung MP3 player at its Klang Valley, Seremban or Malacca outlets.

The number of free songs will depend on which particular model of MP3 player you choose but it can be anywhere from 10 to 60 songs.

senQ’s music catalogue has 200,000 Malay, Chinese and Tagalog titles from labels such as Maestro Talents (which houses talents from the hit Akademi Fantasia TV show) and New Southern Records. International titles will be available from this month.

The songs will be in a Digital Rights Management-free MP3 format which means you can transfer the music to other devices without complications.

The digital music can also be loaded from the senQ kiosks onto your cellphone’s memory card or a thumb-drive.

This initiative, called Download Originals Only, is driven by senQ chain owner Senheng Electric (KL) Sdn Bhd and the newly established Ikon Works Pte Ltd — the distribution arm of Ikon Media Group which deals in events management, publishing and other businesses.

Sweet deal

Ikon Media Group managing director Gan Kheng Chai said music can be a great value-add to push related products.

“Selling the music itself is secondary. In this case, it’s a great sweetener for selling MP3 players,” he said.

He said senQ already sells at least 3,000 MP3 players a month nationwide.

Besides the senQ stores, there are also download kiosks in selected Station One Cafe outlets in the Klang Valley — Setapak, Bandar Menjalara, Kuchai Lama and Overseas Union Garden. There is a total of 20 kiosks in senQ and Station One Cafe outlets.

Station One is allowing redemption of free songs by its members, where they earn points for every purchase which will eventually entitle them to free songs.

The set-up costs for each of the kiosks in senQ or Station One is RM7,000, said Gan. “This is just the beginning. Our plan is to install up to 150 kiosks nationwide before the year ends; at fast food chains, cafes, restaurant chains, convenience stores and bookshops.

“These are the places patronised by our target market — youths and music lovers,” he said.

Party with Stacy

Besides promoting music as a value-add, Ikon is also providing incentives to purchasing original music outright.

Music fans can buy a song for RM3 at the senQ outlets. They pay the cashier who will then give them a code which enables them to transfer a song from kiosk to thumb-drive.

“But people expect more than just music for their money nowadays, so we are giving music fans a chance to enter a competition when they buy digital music,” Gan said.

The winner will receive a visit from Akademi Fantasia 6 winner Stacy to his or her home.

“The one who downloads or redeems the most songs will win the prize, which also includes inviting 50 friends and throwing a party where Stacy will make a one-hour appearance. Food and beverage will be paid for by SenQ,” he said.

The contest ends June 30.

Gan said more of such activities are in the pipeline. “We support the industry’s stand on original digital content.

“And we want to help all artistes and musicians to continue receiving their dues so that they can create more music for the listening pleasure of everyone,” he added.