Showcasing Perlis’s liveability
Great platform to highlight state’s progress, says MB
ILI SHAZWANI
KANGAR shazwani.ihsan@nst.com.my
THIS year’s Perlis Marathon drew 12,500 runners from Malaysia and other countries, including the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
The number of participants tripled from the first time the state held the run three years ago.
The marathon was pioneered by the Perlis state government and jointly organised with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA).
The large turnout during the event showed Perlis’s liveability, with holistic developments that met the social and economic needs of its people.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man is confident the marathon is the optimal platform to showcase the state’s development, progress and community.
”Next year, we are targeting a bigger turnout, which is in line with our efforts to increase tourist arrivals to the state through various sporting events.”
NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq said besides facilitating and promoting, NCIA played an additional and bigger role in the event this time round, which is disseminating information on its activities and initiatives in Perlis, such as the Chuping Valley Industrial Area (CVIA).
Redza said liveability was a key factor that people took into account when deciding on the places they wanted to live in and conduct business.
Hence, when ensuring the holistic development of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), economic growth and liveability have to be taken into consideration.
This, he said, was in line with the recently launched NCER Development Blueprint 2016-2025, also known as Blueprint 2.0, which laid out the socioeconomic development and growth it would undertake to transform the four northern states, namely Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak, into a worldclass economic region worth RM300 billion by 2025.
He said that by creating a liveable region, NCER would be able to attract and retain the best talents, draw investments and remain competitive with other major cities and regions in the nation.
Other significant projects, such as the development of the Perlis Inland Port modern cargo facility in Chuping and the upgrading of the KTMB Padang Besar Cargo Terminal, would also be promoted to attract investors and a workforce that choose to live in Perlis.
“The Perlis Marathon gathers many people from across the globe, and this makes it an ideal touchpoint platform to spread the information on the development plans in Perlis, especially CVIA, which will create 12,674 jobs with a gross national income of RM2.6 billion on completion.
“Cities attract talent, and a liveable region addresses community values and preferences for amenities, safety and a sense of place where people want to live and grow, now and in the future.
“We are confident that once CVIA is operational, we shall see the spillover effect in terms of economic development in the surrounding areas, which will strengthen and empower the rakyat’s economy.
“This is in line with NCIA’s agenda of ’Growth with Social Equity’,” he said here yesterday.
The event was graced by Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail , Raja Muda of Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail and Raja Puan Muda of Perlis Tuanku Lailatul Shahreen Akashah Khalil.
Consisting of four categories — full marathon (42km), half marathon (21km), 10km and 5km — the marathon, which took place at the Tuanku Syed Putra Sports Complex here, was held to commemorate the Raja of Perlis’s 74th birthday.