Penang will submit its action plan and supporting papers for the proposed Penang Technology Financial Centre (PTFC) to the Finance Ministry in November, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.
State government officers and the State Finance Department will engage the ministry on the next steps, he said after the Penang International Science Fair. “We will submit the action plan and the papers we need in November,” Chow told reporters, NST reported.
Further talks with senior ministry officials are expected once the 2027 Budget debate and approval process is completed. “The discussions will focus on initiating the necessary work to implement the proposal,” he said.
The centre has also been called the National Technology Financial Centre during discussions, and the state is open to it being set up at national level. “For now, we are still using the temporary name as further discussions need to be held,” Chow said.
The proposal began as the Penang International Financial Centre, with expressions of interest called in March 2025, The Star noted. It was later narrowed to financing technology growth, mainly in the semiconductor, electrical and electronics and artificial intelligence sectors.
In June this year, the state appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd to prepare a white paper with the supporting strategic and action plans for the centre. On 7 Oct, Chow confirmed the name change to PTFC after feedback that it should reflect Penang’s standing as a technology and semiconductor base.
In his 2027 Budget speech, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced plans to develop Penang as a national technology hub. The push comes with a RM100 million fund set up by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and InvestPenang for early-stage semiconductor and advanced manufacturing companies.
Chow said the state would keep talking to the ministry about a federal-state joint committee to coordinate planning, carrying out and follow-up action. The committee was raised by the state after the Budget announcement, and both sides are still working out how it would sit between the federal and state governments.
The centre is pitched as a financing base rather than an industrial park. Money would go towards technology development, with the state arguing that home-grown chip designers, equipment suppliers and software firms need capital that banks are not built to supply at the earliest stage.
Chow has said the centre would strengthen Penang’s electrical and electronics and semiconductor industries. The two sectors form the backbone of the state’s manufacturing base, and the proposal is tied to the National Semiconductor Strategy, which aims to hold Malaysia’s place in the global chip supply chain.
The paperwork now moves to the ministry, with the November deadline set by the state itself. What comes after depends on the Budget debate in Parliament and on how quickly the ministry names the officials who will sit across the table.
