On February 19, 2022, Chinese Consul General in Penang Mr. Lu Shiwei attended the release ceremony of the establishment of StarFive Technology’s Design Center in Penang and delivered a speech. Chief Minister of Penang Mr. Chow Kon Yeow, Special Investment Advisor to the Chief Minister of Penang Mr. Lee Kah Choon, CEO of Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Mr. Aziz bin Bakar, CEO of InvestPenang Ms. Loo Lee Lian, General Manager of StarFive Technology Malaysia Mr. Ong Chin Hu, etc. attended the event. More than ten media agencies attended the ceremony. 

Consul General Mr. Lu Shiwei said that in the face of the severe challenges brought by the global pandemic, China has coordinated efforts to advance both the prevention and control of the epidemic and the economic and social development, maintaining a good momentum of economic growth. As China has entered a new stage of development, it implements the new development philosophy, fosters a new development paradigm, firmly expands opening-up, and promotes high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation. China encourages enterprises to actively implement the strategy of “going global”, actively assume social responsibilities, share business opportunities and development achievements with local enterprises, and develop together with the host countries. 

Consul General Mr. Lu Shiwei spoke highly of StarFive Technology’s efforts to overcome the difficulties brought about by the pandemic, and complete foreign investment, implementation and operation through “cloud” communication. It is hoped that it will create a bright name card for China-Malaysia cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and contribute to the cooperation between China and Malaysia and also between the localities of the two countries. The Consulate General of China in Penang will also continue to support Chinese enterprises in the consular district to leverage their own advantages,  carry out exchanges and cooperation with the economic community and various circles of the society in the consular district, and continuously promote the cooperation between China and Malaysia and also between the localities of the two countries to achieve more results. 

According to Mr. Chow Kon Yeow, Penang’s exports climbed 14 % year-on-year in 2021, reaching its all-time high of RM354 billion, accounted for over 5% of the global semiconductor sales. One of Penang’s top priorities is to attract companies that focus on R&D-intensive activities, and aims at enabling the state to be positioned as a global innovation hub. Mr. Ong Chin Hu said that the advantage of talent availability in the fields of concentrated integrated circuit (IC) design and software development in Penang and Malaysia strongly supports the development of StarFive Technology. StarFive will continue to invest an additional RM250 million to expand StarFive Technology Malaysia design center as a world-class innovation hub over the next five years.