KUALA NERANG, Feb 7 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today chaired the 28th meeting of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) Council at the Padang Terap District and Land Office near here.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, and NCIA chief executive Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John were present at the two-hour meeting.

After chairing the meeting, the Prime Minister spent about 10 minutes touring an exhibition put up by the participants of the Northern Corridor Economic Region’s (NCER) Integrated Human Capital Programme and interacting with them.

Meanwhile, NCIA, in a statement, said efforts to accelerate growth, as well as NCER economic recovery post-Covid-19 pandemic were on track as seen from the strong economic recovery and resilience recorded by the region in 2021, with the growth is expected to continue this year.

"Positive investor sentiment, implementation of strategic projects and programmes, as well as attractive incentives provided by the federal government through NCIA are expected to maintain the momentum of economic growth and recovery in the region this year,” its said.

The statement said the NCIA’s post-pandemic recovery efforts in NCER were in line with the government’s National Recovery Plan and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

"They are implemented through a three-pronged approach, namely Facilitating Private Investment, Implementing Key Strategic Projects, and People-Based Human Capital Programmes as outlined in the NCER Strategic Development Plan (2021-2025) and Post-Covid-19 Strategic Framework,” it said.

High-impact projects to be implemented to attract more private investment into the region include the Kedah Rubber City, Chuping Valley Industrial Area, Perlis Inland Port, SilverValley Technology Park, and NCER Technology Innovation Centre.

In another development, NCIA said NCER’s export trade performance from the first quarter to the third quarter of 2021 increased 20 per cent year-on-year, accounting for 36 per cent of the country’s exports.

"The increase was driven by growth in the electrical and electronics (E&E) and medical device manufacturing sectors, as well as palm oil products.

"The unemployment rate in NCER also remained below the national unemployment rate at 4.1 per cent as at the third quarter of 2021, while the labour force participation rate has increased steadily to 67.8 per cent and is expected to continue to show an upward trend in 2022,” it said.

In addition, the implementation of strategic projects and private investment in NCER is closely linked to NCIA’s people-centreed human capital programme with the involvement of nearly 68,000 people from 30 districts in NCER, comprising B40 target group, women and Orang Asli, benefitting from them since 2019.

"Through NCIA’s guidance, including in e-commerce marketing, participants from the B40 group have managed to turn the tide by recording higher revenues during the pandemic.

"A total of 5,675 people from the local community are now empowered with skills improvement and entrepreneurship training and managed to generate accumulated income of RM71.9 million through the empowerNCER and JomNiaga@NCER programmes,” he said.

Meanwhile, 9,313 graduates and retrenched workers have secured jobs in various industries through the NCER Talent Enhancement Programme and JomKerja@NCER. — Bernama