Bayan Lepas is a town within the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas is home to the Penang International Airport and an eponymous Free Industrial Zone, dubbed the Silicon Valley of the East due to its size. Various multinational electronic and engineering firms, including Bosch, Motorola, Dell, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, have set up factories and assembly plants within the town.
According to urban legend, Bayan Lepas was founded in the late 19th century by a family from Sumatra. The Penang International Airport, the first civilian airport to be built in British Malaya, was opened in 1935. For much of the town's history, it was an agricultural area, with rice farming a major source of income.
