Insulet Corporation, a Massachusetts-based medical device firm in the USA, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new manufacturing facility in Gelang Patah, Johor, to create its Omnipod Insulin Management System, which will complement Insulet’s existing production capacity in the United States and China.
The groundbreaking event was attended by Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Onn Hafiz Dato’ Ghazi, Johor State Investment, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Lee Ting Han, Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Insulet Corporation, Charles Alpuche, and representatives from other stakeholders.
Insulet Corporation’s investment was discussed in a meeting during Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s recent Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) to the United States with Insulet Corporation’s representatives in Washington, DC.
Johor, according to Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, is poised to become a major regional medical device manufacturing centre.
In a press conference following the groundbreaking ceremony, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said, “We have the right ecosystem to attract quality investments from all over the world and Johor is ready to be the next hub of manufacturing medical devices for the region.
Noting that Insulet’s investment of USD200mil to USD250mil for the next five years is a milestone for Johor, he added that more investments would be coming to the state in the months ahead according to MIDA.
“We are finalising the details on the new investments and will share the information with the media when the time is right,” he said.
According to Onn Hafiz, the state government will strive to cut out any red tape in order to attract more investments to Johor.
He went on to say that the Johor Investment Committee (JIC) is a platform for state agencies to work together to remove red tape and problems that investors may experience.
Charles Alpuche, Insulet’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer shared, “At
Insulet, we are driven by our mission to improve the lives of people with diabetes globally. That is why our top priority is to ensure our customers have continued access to our Omnipod products. Johor Bahru in Malaysia offers a strategic location in the ASEAN region with excellent accessibility to ports and a qualified workforce to staff our next manufacturing facility.”
Lee Ting Han told reporters, “This investment can help attract other nearby or allied industries to the state of Johor as well as help build a supply chain ecosystem for small and medium enterprises through collaboration with local universities and other stakeholders to improve manpower and retraining skills,” adding that this large-scale investment will help job creation, which is a priority of the State Government, with the initial phase of the investment is expected to create about 500 high-skilled and quality jobs for the local workforce. In addition, the economic overflow created can also create new job opportunities directly or indirectly.
