VERBATIM TEXT

 

OFFICIATING SPEECH

 

BY

 

YAB DATO’ SERI UTAMA ANWAR BIN IBRAHIM

PRIME MINISTER

 

 

AT

 

MKS INC. SUPER CENTER FACTORY GRAND OPENING

 

 

 

20 JUNE 2026 (SATURDAY) I 11:00 AM

BANDAR CASSIA TECHNOLOGY PARK (BCTP), PENANG

 

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan Salam Sejahtera.

 

Saudara Yang Amat Berhormat Tuan Chow Kon Yeow,

Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang;

 

Yang Berhormat Tuan Sim Tze Tzin,

Timbalan Menteri Pelaburan, Perdagangan dan Industri (MITI);

 

Duta Besar;

 

Mr. John T.C. Lee,

Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MKS Inc.; dan seluruh anggota dan keluarga MKS Inc dan rakan-rakan yang saya muliakan.

 

 

1. Saya baru sampai 3.30 pagi tadi dari Turkmenistan dan ada berita baik, luar biasa. Presiden Turkmenistan dan saya bersetuju untuk menjadikan Turkmenistan sebagai satu medan perkembangan industri minyak dan gas yang besar. Dan semalam beliau bersetuju untuk menyerahkan telaga simpanan gas di antara paling besar di dunia untuk diselenggarakan oleh Malaysia dan Petronas.

 

 

2. Ini membayangkan keyakinan negara luar kepada kita, keamanan yang kita capai, perpaduan rakyat dan kesungguhan Syarikat-syarikat seperti Petronas, kegigihan golongan profesional bekerja dan komited untuk membangunkan negara.

 

 

3. Ini harus memberi rangsangan kepada kita semua bahawa ruang terbuka luas sekiranya kita tumpu perhatian mengangkat martabat, dengan disiplin, dengan kesungguhan secara postitif membangun negara.

 

 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

 

4. I mean, of course, it’s a great privilege and pleasure for us here to welcome MKS Supercenter Facility. It gives an additional sense of confidence to us that another major facility is semiconductor with a fab to show that level of confidence. We have grown beyond a back-end industry and now we have seen new initiative support from established international companies to operate from Malaysia and particularly Penang. And congratulations to the Chief Minister and friends in Penang.

 

5. I’m a bit biased, as you know, but it showcases what? Clarity in policy, efficient in administration, cut the unnecessary bureaucratic rules and remain focused in what we need to do. You have shown that it can be done. I kept on asking them more than once. You see, Lee, you see. Are you sure everything’s all right? Are you happy with his progress? I mean, he has been exceedingly kind to say yes, but I would say this, there’s always, as George Bernard Shaw used to say, always room for improvement.

 

6. You see, one of the weaknesses in our system and particularly most emerging economies, is a level of state of contentment and complacency. We always take this as a challenge. This happens to be new areas, new technology which requires such an impetus of change. You talk about AI and semiconductors. You cannot have that with the same ground rules and a slow pace of approvals. Penang has shown that this can be done and I would certainly encourage that you should do more. But I did take this opportunity also to announce, I mean, I just arrived from Turkmenistan this morning at 3:30. You see how important this US company, you forced me and drag me here at this hour, I’m half asleep (joking tone), but it’s important because Malaysia is an emerging economy and the level of confidence of the international investor is critical for our economic survival and future progress. And David, thank you very much because, notwithstanding some of our statements, we did welcome President Trump very well. I did, one of the few countries where he danced together. We danced well together.

 

 

7. And because United States is still the number one in terms of investments and trade with Malaysia, still number one. Growing importance of China, or India and countries in the region Germany, particularly with the Infineon huge investments and Nvidia, most of these industries are involved. That’s why I’m particularly excited with the presence of MKS Instruments, to showcase expand your activities because there are many areas that we can jointly benefit.

 

 

8. Of course, you come in as an investor, you look at the facilities, you look at the incentives, you look at the potential, but we also look at the talent pool, what we can benefit in terms of economic advantage of the growing economy, what we need to do.

 

 

9. So, I did ask clearly what John T.C. Lee should advise? So, I told him, probably spend 15 minutes with the Chief Minister and tell us what else do we need to do? You know, we don’t come from this display of arrogance that we know best, we know everything. No, we are here to work together as a team.

 

 

10. So, John, please spend 15 minutes, give the required advice. What else do we need to do to facilitate? Not only to facilitate, to accelerate the process. Facilitate is one but to accelerate because we want to achieve the maximum possible in the shortest time possible. But I did in the introductory remarks, it referenced to my visit to Turkmenistan. We were in Kazan with the ASEAN-Russia Summit. We did with the United States, with President Trump, who was here last year, a significant visit and then we had one with China, India, and now recently with Russia.

 

 

11. That shows the display of our centrality. The position that Malaysia takes is to make sure that we engage with all countries and maintain our independence, neutrality, do express our position in some of the more contentious issues affecting the world but we welcome the participation of all.

 

12. From Kazan, Russia, I spent another day in Turkmenistan on the invitation of President Serdar Berdimuhamedow. The good news is the level of confidence that Turkmenistan, is a major supplier of gas. I think they have probably the second largest gas reserve in the world. And yesterday, we signed an agreement and he has decided to place the two major blocks which would put Malaysia and through Petronas, to be able to deliver one of the largest gas fields in the world, was signed yesterday, Alhamdulillah.

 

 

 

13. So, congratulations to Malaysians, you see, is our indefatigable work, commitment, resolve to be friends to all, to have this meaningful engagement with countries and you see the immediate results in effect. So, I’m of course, extremely happy with that achievement because when the president came in December 2024, I’ve been telling him that he should be open to allow us to participate in this endeavor.

 

 

14. We take a position in terms of foreign policy to engage both east and west and to maintain cordial and good, extremely good relations. And he should seriously consider expanding, although PETRONAS has been there for the last 30 years but this is of course a very large facility that shows this extreme confidence.

 

 

15. So I mean it’s good news and MKS Instruments and Inc, of course you made the right decision but we still stand guided and that is why I’m appointing him as an advisor without any additional allowance because he enough to you know, give views, whatever you may say you know, MKS has been a very known internationally established facility in this new technology.

 

 

16. You talk about wave of fab, you talk about innovation, you talk in this field semiconductor is new and because of the I believe that if we were to expand, we must have the preparedness to engage, benefit from the experience of others and I think from meeting briefly John Tisili, he has shown his kindness to engage with us he wants to succeed, we want to succeed we don’t have all the answers, we don’t claim to know everything, particularly when the technology is new.

 

 

17. What else to do, what facility to provide? How do we then ensure that the talent pool can meet up the immediate standards? These are new disciplines universities are not necessarily all ready unless there is synergy between university and the industry. I do not represent the view that education should be plainly utilitarianism.

 

 

18. Utilitarian means you train people to become machines and engines this is what one very renowned Spanish philosopher, Ortega y Gasset, talks about barbarism or specialization I don’t represent that view but the synergy has to work. Becoming specialized in a particular discipline here in semiconductor for example, doesn’t make you unnecessarily a machine which means education must be comprehensive, must be humane but then you need to specialize and this is where we need to benefit from the experience and expertise of others.

 

 

19. And if you don’t want education to be plainly utilitarian, then the basis for values for humanity for concern for compassion, which is critical in a multi religious, multi racial country like Malaysia.

 

 

20. We cannot have people who are completely oblivious to the stark realities of abject poverty, of gross inequality of this hatred, prejudice, discrimination amongst people. We cannot tolerate that we must allow for humanity and awareness and compassion to prevail but at the same time we cannot succeed if we do not specialize.

 

 

21. And therefore education in these new disciplines and fields must have that sort of synergy within the industry. So I would welcome you to have a look at our leading institutions, share your experience give your suggestions and I’m particularly happy because many of universities and professors seem to be able to take whilst they are strongly grounded in this need to education for excellence and compassion and humanity, they also realize that these fields, new fields of specialization would need that sort of synergy with the industry and that’s where you can still contribute.

 

 

22. Now we are here, I mean very close to Massachusetts I think I was in Georgetown D.C. which was great place and I enjoyed that immensely I was joking with T.C Lee. I said I was enjoying myself in teaching Georgetown and also the great university and the conducive environment the family was extremely happy.

 

 

23. I don’t know who persuaded me to come back and enter to political free and having to wake up having to arrive at 3:30 in the morning and back here I wouldn’t need I don’t think I need that at the university but that is not reality and of course we have a duty to perform.

 

 

24. So we are here today to actually welcome one great facility and we in Penang, as Chow have said, would do whatever is necessary I wouldn’t recount your relative success in attracting investments and foreign direct investments we established record last year and the first quarter this year.

 

 

25. That’s why I was extremely happy too to learn the news of a settlement or agreement, initial agreement between United States and Iran and whatever you may say, this is great news for all of us because the closure of the states of Hormuz affect our industries, our economy and the spiraling prices would cause hardship to our people and so I’ve issued statements and conveyed to President of the United States and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran it’s a small growing economy.

 

 

26. We are, you know, very enthusiastic with the news. We hope the peace can be sustained in the long term and every country is Gulf and the Arab countries and particularly Israel can be persuaded if not forced to at least ensure that it’s peace in the region people do not realize that turmoil in such a faraway place affect the livelihood of the common person and the most affected are the poor, the marginalized and this is really totally unacceptable, excellently cruel to inflict so much difficulty to the people.

 

 

27. So Chief Minister, there’s yet another transformation in Penang you have seen not competing on cost but sophistication of our productive capacity and the depth of our talent and that is the major challenge. The sophistication and depth of our talent and this having said that is a major challenge and the steady investment in education, the openness, the liberal position taken by the universities to accommodate changes as fast as possible is pertinent.

 

 

28. So, thank you again. May Allah reward us and grant us success and thanks to all that has done their level best to ensure success of this venture. Sekali lagi saya ucap terima kasih penghargaan kepada semua dan doakan terhadap Allah SWT mudah-mudahan kita berjaya, cemerlang di Pulau Pinang dan Malaysia.

 

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.