KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 27 -- Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has formally appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to approve a Special Financial Zone (SFZ) in Penang, arguing this was crucial to protect the state's economy from the threat of new US tariffs on the electronics sector.

In a statement, Lim disclosed that he met the Prime minister on January 16 to make the case for an SFZ in Bagan (Butterworth), on the mainland.

He stressed the "added urgency" of diversifying Penang's economy, which is 95 per cent dependent on manufacturing and services, making it highly vulnerable to the US-China trade war.

"Despite the Agreement of Reciprocal Tariffs (ART) concluded with the United States last year fixing tariffs at 19 per cent, the electro...