Driving up to Malaysia's north-west, one is more likely to be greeted by endless padi fields than rows of factories and trucks transporting cargo. But it belies a tremendous surge of investment interest in recent years.

The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), which covers Perlis, Penang, Kedah and northern Perak, is in fact second only to Johor's Iskandar, in terms of investments, among Malaysia's five development corridors.