NORTHERN STATE WILL RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL STATUS BY YEAR-END

PENANG (Malaysia), June 1 (Bernama) -- A blueprint to reshape northern
Penang-state and give it international status would be completed by year end,
said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He said the Penang Blueprint was aimed at providing sustainable development
based on the government, economy, society and the environment.

"This blueprint must also rest solidly on a local system that is properly
regulated and monitored, one that is transparent so that neglect and
imcompetence cannot hide within it," he said in his speech before officiating
the Penang Outlook Forum here Monday.

He said there were conditions and key measures which the state government
needed to look into to transform Penang, but added that the blueprint would
surely be out before the end of the year.

"Among key measures and conditions are the international benchmark, new
technology, upgrading and increasing the civil service," said.

However, he recalled the days when Penang defined Malaysia's future but that
the state was currently retrogressing.

Lim said the state had even recorded the least family income which grew by
2.5 per cent annually as compared to the average for the whole country which
stood at 6.6 per cent.

"A restructuring must boost local employment opportunities, raise the median
income level and disposable income and lead to greater purchasing power for the
people of Penang," he reasoned.

-- BERNAMA