GEORGE TOWN, Nov 30 — US multinational Micron Technology announced today its plan to set up a plant in Batu Kawan with an initial investment of RM1.5 billion.

Micron Technology senior vice president for backend operations Gursharan Singh said the sum is intended for the first five years.

"We hope to break ground for the new facility in the first half of 2019 and reach full operations in two years,” he said.

He said the new plant is part of the company’s expansion strategy to developed a well-positioned global capacity.

"The new location in Penang for solid state drive manufacturing will enhance our NAND Center of Excellence in South-east Asia, building on our existing presence in Malaysia and Singapore,” he said during a press conference at Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow’s office in Komtar today.

Micron Technology chose to expand in Penang due to the high-quality supply chain for the electronics industry, logistics, sustainable manufacturing infrastructure, access to talent and strong government support, he said.

The site is also close to the firm’s NAND Centre of Excellence in Singapore, which Gursharan said would help to accelerate and support the Penang facility.

Earlier, Chow said Micron will build its Centre of Excellence for Solid State Drive (SSD) Assembly and Test at the Batu Kawan Industrial Park.

He said this investment is expected to create about 1,000 high value jobs in the electronics and electrical (E&E) sector.

"This further reinforces the position of Penang as the Silicon island of Asia,” he said.

"Penang is the second top recipient of total manufacturing investment among states valued at RM10.8 billion,” he said.

He said investors from the US were the largest FDI contributor to the Penang economy as it contributes 30 per cent or RM14.4 billion out of RM72 billion approved investments recorded between 2008 and June 2018.

"Penang continues to lead in the investment of E&E sector, consistently recording more than one third of the total E&E sector investments in Malaysia in the period of 2008 to 2017,” he said.

Micron Technology signed a land purchase agreement with Penang Development Corporation (PDC) for the purchase of 21ha of land in Batu Kawan Industrial Park today.

Micron Technology is a Fortune 500 company and a leading manufacturer in memory and storage solutions.