Penang sets aside RM4.5m to grow startups, AI adoption and digital economy

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the allocation is to strengthen the state’s technology start-up ecosystem and help businesses embrace digital transformation. — Picture via Facebook/Chow Kon Yeow

First Published: Saturday, 07 Nov 2026 7:50 PM MYT

GEORGE TOWN, Nov 7 — The Penang government has allocated RM4.5 million in its 2027 budget to support technology startups, accelerate digitalisation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the state’s economy.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the allocation is to strengthen the state’s technology start-up ecosystem and help businesses embrace digital transformation.

“In (the state’s) Budget 2027, the state government has set aside RM4.5 million for Digital Penang; it will support technology start-ups, help small and medium enterprises go digital, and use AI across our economy. The startup community supported by the initiative has already generated 310 companies and created approximately 1,720 jobs,” he said when officiating the AI Future Makers Bootcamp 2026 at SEGi College Penang here today.

Also present at the AI Future Makers Bootcamp 2026 were chairman Lukas J.Tan and SEGi College Penang head of student experience Vincent Tung Chin Aun.

Chow said the collaboration between young innovators and experienced industry players demonstrated the importance of learning across generations as Penang prepared its workforce for technological changes. He noted that the state had successfully adapted to previous industrial transformations, including when the country’s first Free Trade Zone was established in Bayan Lepas in 1972, with workers acquiring new skills through on-the-job training and knowledge-sharing.

“Penang knows how to do this. When the world changed, we learned fast, and we learned together. The world is changing again,” he added, noting that AI could now complete in an afternoon tasks that previously took a week.

On talent development, Chow said 675 fresh graduates and working professionals had undergone chip design training through the Penang Chip Design Academy, with 85 per cent of them securing employment. He said the Penang Talent Focus Group, launched in June under the Penang Workplace initiative, also brought together industry players, universities and human resource practitioners to improve the matching of talent with employment opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Penang Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Blueprint will also introduce AI learning programmes to rural schools through mobile initiatives.

The chief minister urged employers and human resource practitioners to give young job seekers opportunities beyond conventional qualifications, including through interviews, mentoring and professional engagement.

He also encouraged bootcamp participants to turn their ideas into practical solutions and build their innovations in Penang. — Bernama