Guan Eng: New RM1b investment in Penang will create 2,500 skilled jobs

GEORGE TOWN: Global manufacturing giant Jabil Circuit Inc will be investing RM1 billion over the next five years in Penang to set up a new manufacturing facility in Batu Kawan on the mainland.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the investment is to be spread over five years with 2,500 skilled jobs being created.
He said the company has agreed to purchase a 8ha plot of land from the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) for the expansion.
“The land was sold at a price of RM30 million,” he said in a press conference today before inking the agreement between state-owned PDC and Jabil.
Also present was Jabil Circuit Singapore Pte Ltd operations, electronic manufacturing services senior vice-president Ong Kay Chong.
Chong described the site as an ideal place to set up its second hi-tech facility in Penang after the one in Bayan Lepas, noting there is also one in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
He expressed confidence in the resilience of the electric and electronic (E&E) sector when asked about the feasibility of expanding during uncertain economic times.
He pointed out Jabil manufactured US$1.5 billion (RM5.38 billion) worth of products every year and stressed the sector was doing “very well.”
“We are involved in 10 different industries,” he said when asked what the new facility would produce, pointing out that it ranges from bio-sensors to network storage.