Visit Kedah

Kedah has a long history. The Bujang Valley has remains of a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that dates back to the 4th century AD, making it the oldest civilization of Peninsular Malaysia. The current royal family can trace its line directly back to this time. According to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa or the Kedah Annals, Kedah was founded by a Hindu king named Merong Mahawangsa. According to the text further, the Sultanate of Kedah started in year 1136 when the 9th King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah.

In the 7th and 8th centuries, Kedah was under the domination of Srivijaya, and was later under Siam, until the rise of the Malay sultanate of Melaka in the 15th century. In the 17th century, Kedah was attacked by the Portuguese after their conquest of Melaka, and by Aceh. In the hope that Great Britain would protect what remained of Kedah from Siam, the sultan handed over Penang and then Province Wellesley to the British at the end of the 18th century. The Siamese nevertheless conquered Kedah in 1821, and it remained under Siamese control until transferred to the British by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.

In World War II, Kedah (along with Kelantan) was the first part of Malaya to be invaded by Japan. The Japanese returned Kedah to their Thai allies who had it renamed Syburi, but it returned to British rule after the end of the war. Kedah was a reluctant addition to the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Kedah is considered the "rice bowl" of Malaysia, accounting for one third of Malaysia's total production of rice. Other agricultural products, including rubber, oil palm and tobacco are also important. Tourism, particularly on the island of Langkawi is of growing importance.

More recently, Kedah has forged its economy towards the automotive and aerospace industry with Modenas and Asian Composites setting up bases here. One of the main advantages is the low labour costs and the infrastructure in place with the highway and Penang International Airport on its door step. In 1996, the Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) which was officially opened and became the first high technology industrial park in Malaysia. The Park situated in Kulim comprises a total land area of approximately 14.5 square kilometres (5.6 mi²). Many local and foreign companies (such as Intel, Fuji Electric, Showa Denko, SilTerra etc.) have moved to the site since then.

According to the 9th Malaysia Plan, all this economic area is referred to as the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). The Northern Corridor Economic Region is one of three development regions formed in Peninsular Malaysia, other development regions being the South Johor Economic Region (SJER) or Iskandar Development Region (IDR) and the East Coast Development Region. The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) encompasses Penang (Penang Island and Seberang Prai), Kedah (Alor Star, Sungai Petani and Kulim) and northern Perak. 

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