Emulate Kedah’s speedy approval process, says northern corridor agency head

 

Kedah’s E10 programme is a fast-track process dealing with construction permits to ensure work can begin in a specified timeline without delays.

GEORGE TOWN: Kedah’s ability to approve construction projects in less than 10 months is a model that other states in the northern region should emulate, said Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) CEO Haris Kader Sultan.

Haris said unlike traditional approval processes where applications passed through multiple departments, Kedah’s approach involved convening all relevant parties to expedite the decision-making process under the state government’s E10 system.

According to the Kedah government’s website, E10 is a fast-track process dealing with construction permits to ensure work can commence in a specified timeline without delays.

“We want each of the states in the northern region to replicate what is being practised in Kedah. Because at the end of the day, it is easing the process of doing business,” Haris told reporters at NCER’s annual performance review here.

Haris Kader Sultan.

“The file doesn’t go from one department to another department. The people from the department gather at one place and they make decisions at this meeting.”

Haris said presently, businesses in the other northern states — Penang, Perak and Perlis — would have to wait for up to two years for necessary approvals.

He said Perlis was already trying to emulate Kedah’s fast-tracking system.

“As a federal agency, we will facilitate this same system for other states in the north to follow. I think it should not be a problem because if Kedah can do it, the other states can too,” he said.

Earlier, Haris announced that the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) attracted nearly RM21.4 billion in investments in 2023, surpassing the initial target of RM18 billion. He added that these investments resulted in the creation of over 24,000 job opportunities.

NCER is an economic corridor covering the four northern states of Peninsular Malaysia: Penang, Kedah, Perak and Perlis

Domestic investments contributed RM12.4 billion while foreign direct investments (FDIs) accounted for RM8.97 billion. The United States was the largest investor in the northern region (RM8.12 billion) last year, followed by China (RM550 million) and Germany (RM280 million).

NCER has seen a total of RM206.41 billion pour in since its inception in 2008 to 2022, generating 241,140 job opportunities. FDIs contributed 44.7% of the total investments.

Penang topped the list at RM28 billion in realised investments for 2023, followed by Kedah (RM11.6 billion), Perak (RM1.9 billion) and Perlis (RM27.6 million). - FMT