THE German-headquartered Bosch Group, which ranks top 100 in the Global Fortune 500, has chosen Penang for its latest manufacturing investment.
This was announced by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow during a live Facebook broadcast from Komtar today. He took a break from his weekly state exco meeting to relay the good news.
He said the new facility, through Bosch Automotive Electronics, would be located on an approximately 100,000sq m land in Batu Kawan Industrial Park.
The plant will focus on semiconductor components and sensor testing of components that are manufactured at Bosch Automotive Electronics’ fab in Dresden, Germany. It will also house R&D and training facilities.
“Today marks an important milestone for the state’s manufacturing industry,” Chow said.
“The construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in 2021 and its first production to commence in 2023. Some 400 employees are expected to work at the new facility.
“The state government is pleased to further strengthen its relationship with Bosch, one of the eight pioneers that had charted Penang’s industrialisation journey five decades ago.
“Penang is already home to three existing Bosch manufacturing sites as well as research and development offices since 1972. For Bosch, this is the largest number of manufacturing facilities in a single country in Southeast Asia.”
He added that Bosch currently produces car multimedia systems, power tools and automotive steering in Penang. It has over 4,500 employees in the state, to-date.
Chow believes that Bosch’s strategic decision to invest in Penang is particularly meaningful to the state in view of the current Covid-19 pandemic.
He continued: “Bosch’s new investment venture implies the company’s confidence in its technology for future and Penang’s ecosystem is capable and sustainable in fulfilling the stringent requirements of the automotive industry.
“I look forward to seeing Penang increase its participation in the automotive cutting-edge technology via this strategic investment.
“State agencies, including investPenang and PDC, will lend their full support to this expansion.
“We are humbled that Penang is home to many global semiconductor and automotive leaders. They have chosen to deepen their roots in the state over the past decades.
“The Penang government is grateful to its strong and supportive industries that have created a robust ecosystem in the state.”
Looking back, the chief minister said 2019 was an action-packed year for Penang.
Its total approved manufacturing investment hit a record high, with strong inflows of both new and re-investments into the state.
Penang recorded RM16.9 billion in total approved manufacturing investment in 2019, an increase of 192% year-on-year, and registered more than double its 10-year average of RM8 billion.
Chow said according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), Penang successfully garnered 166 manufacturing projects in 2019 – projects that are expected to create 18,886 new job opportunities.
The electrical and electronics (E&E), medical devices and equipment manufacturing industries collectively made up about 87% of Penang’s total approved manufacturing investments in 2019.
In 2019, Penang commanded 20% of Malaysia’s total manufacturing investments, and its RM15 billion FDI inflow entrenched the state as the country’s top FDI destination, accounting for 28% of Malaysia’s total FDI.
“I would like to thank Mida, the agency that leads the investment promotion and works closely with investPenang in attracting high value investments to the state.
“The Penang government will continue to work hand-in-hand with Mida in this extraordinary period to attract high quality investments to Malaysia and Penang.”
In a joint press release by Mida, investPenang and Bosch, Bosch Malaysia managing director Simon Song said the new site was also intended to strengthen the matured eco-system of semiconductor industry in Penang.
“With long-term forecasts for growth of semiconductor component quantities, coupled with the front-end production in Bosch’s Dresden facility in Germany, capacity expansion is required for the back-end production, which is the final testing phase of semiconductors and sensors,” Song said.
Besides Bosch, some of the prominent semiconductor-related players in Penang included Broadcom, Intel, Micron, TF AMD and Western Digital.
The state recently welcomed Lam Research, a global leading wafer fabrication equipment player.
Other MNCs in Penang with product portfolio in automative industry included OSRAM, Panasonic, Analog Devices, ASE Group, Clarion, Continental, FCA, Infineon, Kontron, Luxoft, Malaysian Automotive Lighting, Premium Sound Solutions, Renesas and Valeo.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud
Video by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis