KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — ROHM-Wako Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (RWEM), a major Japanese electronics maker, is expanding its electronic components facility in Kelantan with a total investment of RM910 million.
In a joint statement, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the company said that the investment will create high-skilled jobs for over 340 Malaysians and is RWEM’s single biggest investment, which will uniquely position Malaysia as a key hub for the semiconductor and automotive global value chains.
Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the establishment of the manufacturing facility in Malaysia is a strategic decision by ROHM-Wako Electronics to build a long-term presence in the ASEAN region.
“Indeed, this vital expansion signifies the company’s confidence in the capability of our local talent pool of highly skilled engineers and technicians.
“The investment performance of ROHM-Wako Electronics in Malaysia is most encouraging, with this new manufacturing facility generating employment opportunities for local talent, contributing to the economic upliftment of the community as well as boosting commercial development in the state,” he said in the statement.
Mohamed Azmin said the expansion project is also in line with the National Investment Aspirations to make Malaysia a strategic investment hub.
MIDA chief executive officer Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman said the expansion project is poised to strengthen Malaysia’s position in the global value chains.
Meanwhile, RWEM president Hideki Hashimoto said the company is confident that it has made a right decision to continue investing in Malaysia with the plant having skilled and reliable workforce.
“The expansion is vital for the company’s continuous business and innovation growth,” he added.
According to the statement, the new building will be constructed within the RWEM premise and will serve the purpose of responding to the strong demand for semiconductors and promoting multi-site production system of analog large-scale integrations (LSIs) and transistors in line with the Business Continuity Management.
The new three-storey building, with a total floor area of 29,580 square metres, will ultimately increase the overall production capacity by about 1.5 times.
The construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022 and be completed in August 2023.
The statement said this will expand the capacity of components for wide line transistors and gate driver integrated circuits, mainly used for electric vehicles and hybrid cars.
These components will also be used for the company’s existing production of discrete semiconductors such as diodes, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes used in a wide array of electronic consumer products such as audio and video equipment, television sets, laptops as well as mobile phones, it said.
“This is in line with Malaysia’s National Automotive Policy 2020 which focuses on the development of new technologies in future mobility areas,” the statement said.
