Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

AHMAD FUZI BIN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK, the governor of the State of Penang, Malaysia, expressed his admiration for Shenzhen during a courtesy call to Shenzhen Mayor Qin Weizhong at the Wuzhou Guest House yesterday.

“What you have achieved here is the envy of many developing countries,” Razak said.

The governor added that he believes the success of Shenzhen needs to be emulated by many developing countries.

Razak, visiting Shenzhen for the very first time, said that he had heard much about the city and was impressed by its beauty and cleanliness upon arrival.

“This is [the result of] competent management and administration of this beautiful city of Shenzhen,” Razak said.

Qin extended a warm welcome to the visiting governor, and said that during Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to China earlier this year, the two sides reached a consensus on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future.

“This will surely bring new development opportunities for Shenzhen and Malaysia,” Qin said, adding that a large number of Shenzhen enterprises have invested and established businesses in Malaysia in recent years.

With Penang as a key hub for semiconductors, Qin pointed out that integrated circuits and chips can be key areas for Shenzhen and Penang’s future cooperation.

According to Razak, although Penang is a small state in Malaysia, its contribution to Malaysia’s GDP is quite high. Penang is one of the largest manufacturers in the electrical and electronics industries and the production and invention of microchips.

“I believe there’s a lot of potential and possibilities for collaboration between the state of Penang and the city of Shenzhen,” the governor said. He also suggested establishing a platform that allows regular consultation between the two regions.

Both parties agreed on the potential for more direct flights between Shenzhen and Malaysia to further enhance their ties.

Shenzhen’s foreign trade with Malaysia reached US$9.63 billion from January to July this year, according to official statistics.

The visiting governor is on a two-day visit to Shenzhen. During his stay in the city, his itinerary includes a visit to Huawei’s headquarters and attending the Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit, which was jointly organized by the China Development Institute and KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific.