 In 1972, the then Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Chong Eu, opened the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone to alleviate an economic crisis and rising unemployment that plagued Penang at the time.Pioneer tax status was granted to multinational firms seeking to establish factories and assembly plants in Bayan Lepas.Complemented by low-cost labour, the creation of the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone was successful in reversing Penang's economic slump, while the industrial zone itself grew to become the "'Silicon Valley of the East"'.