COMMENT The Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11MP) projects a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of five to six percent for Malaysia between 2016 and 2020. Given the growth rate achieved in the Tenth Malaysia Plan at 5.3 percent, the projected growth in the next five years is better compared with the recent five years.

Despite not being included as one of the four key cities earmarked under 11MP, Penang is expected to outperform Malaysia, with a 6.1 percent growth rate. Penang’s growth is ranked third highest, behind Kuala Lumpur (7.5 percent) and Selangor (6.9 percent).

The 6.1 percent growth in Penang is likely to come from the manufacturing sector (6.5 percent growth) and services (6.1 percent growth); whereas growth KL is likely to be driven strongly by construction, which is projected to grow 11.3 percent a year. This construction sector growth is likely to be related to the various infrastructure projects that are under way...