Penang, Malaysia » City Info » Economy

The economy of Penang does not depend on any one sector. Penang takes up the third position after Selangor and Johor among the states of Malaysia. Its excellent infrastructure and transportation facilities make Penang the perfect place for the manufacturing sector. There are a lot of industries in the southern part of the island.

Apart from the manufacturing sector, tourism, finance, agriculture and shipping sectors also contribute in enhancing the economy of the state. The Penang Development Corporation, PDC, helps to plan, implement and promote most of the development projects on the behalf of the state government of Penang. PDC functions as an investment section of the Penang State government.

When Kuala Lumpur was a small outpost, Penang was the main core of banking of Malaysia. In 1875, Standard Chartered Bank, the oldest bank in Malaysia, opened its doors to gratify the financial requirements of the early European traders. In 1885, HSBC (The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) opened its branch in Penang. Later in 1888, the UK-based Royal Bank of Scotland opened its first office in the State. Today, Penang has got branches of Citibank, the Malaysian central bank (Bank Negara Malaysia) and United Overseas Bank in addition to the Maybank, Ambank, Public Bank and CIMB Bank.

Considering the highly industrialized nature and limited land size, the agriculture sector contributes very little. The major part is taken over by the export of cocoa, oil palm and crops of rubber along with fruits, vegetables, livestock, coconut and paddy. Apart from this, ornamental, fisheries, floriculture and aquaculture are some of the new emerging industries and also play a small role in bringing up the economy of the state.