A total of RM15.3 billion in investments has been realised in the northern corridor economic region (NCER) through the combined efforts of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Kedah government in the first seven months of 2024, NCIA CEO Haris Kader Sultan said.

He said about 1,700 job opportunities had been created as a result of the investments.

Haris said this figure significantly exceeded the RM5.43 billion in investments realised during the same period last year.

“This strong performance is evidence of the effectiveness of the NCER strategic development plan, and NCIA is confident that this year’s overall performance will surpass that of 2023.

This year, NCIA also introduced the Faci@NCER initiative, which aims to expedite the investment realisation process by connecting stakeholders through a comprehensive approval process chain,

 he said in a statement.

Additionally, he said, the medical device industry is a crucial component of the high-value manufacturing sector in Kedah, particularly in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park and the industrial area around Sungai Petani.

“Since 2019, NCIA has successfully realised cumulative investments of RM34.8 billion, creating more than 16,000 job opportunities in the high-value manufacturing sector in Kedah.

Of this, RM1.56 billion came from the medical device industry,

 he said.

Haris is optimistic that through the NCER strategic development plan, Kedah will emerge as a globally preferred medical device manufacturing hub in future.

The announcement of NCER’s investment performance for Kedah was made during the state’s steering committee meeting chaired by Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor.