SEBERANG PERAI, March 11 ― Leading chemical and equipment manufacturer Atotech (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd opened its RM50 million chemical plant at the Penang Science Park here today.
The new factory, built on a 10,000 square metres of land, is the first of Atotech's next generation factories that will supply to the whole Southeast Asian region.
“This plant is our first step here to ship from here to the rest of the region and it is an important milestone for us to show our longstanding commitment to the Asean region,” said Atotech president Reinhard Schneider.
Atotech is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals and equipment for printed circuit board, IC-substrate and semiconductor industries.
Schneider admitted that currently there is a global downturn and that last year and the last three months, orders have dropped by about 30 per cent globally.
“Everybody in the industry believes that it will be better by March and we expect the industry will pick up by then,” he said.
Despite the global downturn, Atotech expects to invest another RM30 million in its Penang plant over the next few years.
The plant, which currently has 37 employees, is expect to employ an additional 55 skilled employees in four years' time.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who officiated the opening of the factory, said the opening of a new plant in Penang shows the state continues to be resilient to overcome the downturn.
“These are signs of strength and confidence that investors will still come even though times are uncertain,” he said.
He said the state recorded a total RM6.7 billion in investments last year and a total RM48.2 billion between 2008 and 2014.
