The groundbreaking ceremony for Ferrotec Power Semiconductor Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.’s 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Pasir Gudang, Johor, was presided over by Johor State Exco for Investment, Trade, and Consumer Affairs, Lee Ting Han.
“With an investment amount of RM520 million, the facility is expected to provide 460 highly-skilled job opportunities for Bangsa Johor when it is completed in the 4th quarter of 2024,” said Lee Ting Han, adding he had visited Ferrotec’s facility in Shanghai about a month ago.
Ferrotec Holdings Corporation, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a global company that operates in the semiconductor-related equipment, electronic devices, and other business sectors. The company provides vacuum seals, silicon wafers, power semiconductor substrates, ingots, cells for solar modules, automobile-related products, and many other items.
Attending the events are He Xian Han, CEO of Ferrotec Holdings Corporation, Zhang En Rong, General Manager of Ferrotec Power Semiconductor Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Shahzul Jayawirawan, Director of Malaysian Investment Development Authority – MIDA Johor and Yang Mulia Ungku Suzana, Chief Executive of Invest Johor.
“It is very encouraging to see that a world’s leading manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of advanced material, component, system, and manufacturing solutions in a broad array of end products has chosen Johor, one of the leading states in Malaysia in terms of trade, investment, and economic performance,” he said.
According to him, Malaysia’s New Industrial Master Plan 2030 states unequivocally that the country will prioritise high-growth, high-value sectors such as digitalisation and digital economy, electrical and electronics ecosystem, renewable energy, electric vehicles, aerospace, chemical and petrochemical, all of which require the supply of advanced materials.
“In this regard, Johor wants to be at the forefront of technology-intensive industries because we know it is the key to providing high and growing wages for our people.”
“We believe attracting Ferrotec to set up a manufacturing base in Johor would eventually open greater possibilities for other global companies in those industries, for example, electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar and wind energy, and many others that require their products or services to follow suit and invest in Malaysia, and particularly Johor,” he went on to say, adding that during the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, leaders from both countries expressed their commitment to establishing the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to improve cross-border trade and strengthen the business ecosystem between the two countries.
“The SEZ is important for Johor as we believe it would be able to reignite the people’s and investor’s imaginations over the Iskandar Malaysia region and bring in more high-quality investors, like Ferrotec. It is indeed an exciting time for Johor and this region.”
“Up to the second quarter of 2023, Johor has secured about RM3.347 billion in committed investment in the manufacturing sector, with 121 approved projects that are expected to generate about 6,400 jobs.”
Lee Ting Han explained that the top 5 approved manufacturing sub-sectors in the state are electrical & electronics (17 projects – RM1.36 billion); non-metallic mineral products (8 projects- RM665 million), fabricated metal products (31 projects – RM387 million), chemicals & chemical products (9 projects – RM203 million) and transport equipment (4 projects – RM141 million).
“We believe the entry of Ferrotec is going to provide a boost to the machinery & equipment sub-sector, which is currently ranked number 6 with 8 projects and a committed investment of RM119 million,” he concluded.
