Since the 1970s, Penang has seen itself as an industrial centre for the country. But what do we know about our investors, be they foreign or local? And how effective are investments in our key industries? What are the jobs they create, and how many? And do our industries differ in significant ways from those found in other parts of the country?
What is the growth potential of industrial investments?
Everybody knows that output can only come with inputs. Factory operations rely not only on labour and raw materials but also on machines and infrastructure. Production capacity increases as investments increase, and this capacity put into operation gives us output. Economists have a keen interest in the relation between investment input and production output.
While we can assume that technology affects how much input is required to achieve a certain output, reliable data on investments and on output are complicated by decisions made in immediate response to market demands, which go up and down every few years or so.
