Submitted by:
Rex Burkholder,
Metro Councilor, District 5
Malaysia. The Spice Islands. The Straits of Malacca. Tropical seas and jungles. Pirates? So yesteryear!
Today, Malaysia is in the center of the most dynamic economy in the world--Chindia. With over 3 billion people and a growing middle class, Chindia is wrestling with reconciling the twin objectives of raising average incomes while protecting and restoring the environment. Penang itself is a bustling center of international high technology companies and high rises alongside the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Georgetown (where Jimmy Choo got his start!).
Through First Stop Portland, I was invited by the World Bank Institute to join a forum on Greening Urban Growth in Penang, Malaysia with 50 or so other participants from around the globe.