Commonwealth youth city in Tanjung Malim to be developed

IPOH: The state government will cooperate with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) to continue developing the first Commonwealth youth city in Tanjung Malim.

Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad said the move to develop the city was postponed after Pakatan Harapan took over the country’s administration.

Saarani said the project, which is part of the Southern Development Corridor 2017-2037, involved development projects from the Muallim district to Bagan Datuk.

“We have chosen Tanjung Malim since UPSI (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris) and Proton City are here,” he said.

“We have conducted brainstorming sessions with stakeholders to develop the youth city, in line with the development of southern Perak, but it was postponed during the government transition in 2018.

“Now I am back. At the same time, NCIA has also agreed to cover the whole of Perak.

“Previously, NCIA focused only on the southern part of the state.

“We will take this opportunity to continue to develop southern Perak and to ensure the country will have its own first youth city in Tanjung Malim.”

Saarani said this after presenting letters of appointment to Perak Youth Council members at Impiana Hotel here yesterday.

The Commonwealth youth city would be built by leveraging public infrastructure and facilities, and will be done in collaboration with the government, government-linked companies, the private sector and civil society organisations.

The city will be equipped with high-technology systems, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and other futuristic features.

The youth city would include innovation hubs, business hotels, SOHO suites and affordable homes to enable young people to develop themselves in their field of work and entrepreneurship, as well as fostering vocational skills among the youth.

The project, announced by Prince Charles during the Commonwealth Youth Summit in 2017, was backed by the Malaysian government and the state government, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Youth Innovation Centre and youth councils in Malaysia.