KUCHING: The success of Sama Jaya High Tech Park here and the continuous expansions of these Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) in Sarawak augur well for the industrialisation agenda of the State to leapfrog Sarawak to become a high income economy by 2030.
Deputy Chief Minister and Second Minister for Urban Development and Natural Resources, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan has assured that the Government will continue with its business-friendly policies to attract more investments in high tech industries.
According to Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister for Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Sama Jaya has attracted more than RM12 billion worth of investment and created many economic spinoffs, which continued to benefit the local business communities.
“Currently, Sama Jaya has created some 10,800 employment opportunities, of which 99 per cent are filled by locals. In 2017 alone, Sama Jaya generated RM380 million in total wages for local workers, which ultimately flows back into our economy. In the same year, the export value generated from Sama Jaya was RM3.2 billion,” he disclosed when officiating the Groundbreaking Ceremony of Taiyo Yuden (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd’s new factory building project at Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone here yesterday.
Awang Tengah thanked Taiyo Yuden and all the MNC for their commitments to recruiting Sarawakians and hoped that they would continue to give priority to hire local workforce, as well as to engage local SMEs to support their operations in Sarawak.
“Taiyo Yuden is among the pioneers to set up a facility in Sama Jaya in 1994 (Toko in 1992), and I am happy to see that both of them have remained strong in Sarawak for more than two decades, especially Taiyo Yuden which has undergone a series of expansions. Today marks yet another milestone in Taiyo Yuden’s operations in Sama Jaya, Sarawak,” he said.
Sama Jaya High Tech Park has grown to include several major multinational corporations such as X-FAB (semiconductor), Western Digital (or HGST – glass and aluminium substrates) and LONGi (solar ingots, wafers, cells and modules) as well as their supporting industries which have formed a cluster at the Park.
The latest MNC to set up operation at Sama Jaya is Iljin Materials Co., Ltd. from South Korea to produce copperfoil for smartphones and electric vehicles.
The Taiyo Yuden Group is a major global manufacturer of components used in popular consumer electronics from Apple and Samsung and approximately 1,000 pieces of Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) are mounted in one unit of smartphone such as iPhone and Samsung Galaxy. In that smartphone, 30 per cent of the MLCC are supplied by the Taiyo Yuden Group worldwide, in which 15 per cent are manufactured here.
Since its establishment, Awang Tengah said that Taiyo Yuden has invested over RM3 billion in its Sarawak operations.
In order to cater to the growing market demand for MLCC, Taiyo Yuden is constructing a new two-storey factory building here and when the new building is completed in 2020, Taiyo will require another 800 personnel, increasing its workforce to over 5,000 people by 2021.
Currently, Taiyo Yuden is the largest employer in Sama Jaya, hiring 4,360 personnel. Of this, almost all are Sarawakians (except for top management), and 859 (19.7 per cent) of Taiyo’s total workforce is made up of degree and diploma holders.
According to Yoshio Akimoto, Managing Director & CEO of Taiyo Yuden (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd said since the establishment of its production base in Sarawak in 1994, Taiyo Yuden Sarawak has developed and grown considerably.
“We have been able to gain the trust of our headquarters where they have continued to grant us further investment for this new factory building project.
“This involves the construction of a two-storey factory building and a single-storey sub-station. The construction works is expected to begin immediately. We hope with this expansion, it will create more job opportunities for the local people,” he said.
He thanked the Sarawak State Government and its related agencies – MIED, State Planning Authority, Land and Survey Department, Bomba and MBKS for their continued assistance and support.
Hirokazu Chazono, Director of Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. Japan said Taiyo Yuden was established in 1950 and Taiyo Yuden’s core business is in the production of Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor (MLCC).
He revealed that the sales amount of MLCC was more than 60 per cent of Taiyo Yuden total today.
He added that Malaysia Sarawak Taiyo Yuden (MSTY) which was established in 1994 and started operation in 1996 currently, has about 4,400 employers and they are engaging in the MLCC production activity in MSTY.
He disclosed that MSTY has received an investment of approximately 55 billion Japanese yen so far, and more than 1.2 trillion pieces of MLCC have been produced and shipped.
Taiyo Yuden Group has 5 major plants and MSTY here is the biggest plant. This achievement has been attributed to the support of Sarawak Government, all the stakeholders, and all of MSTY employees.
He said that the demand for MLCC has been increasing at about 10 per cent every year up to 2025 and this was simply due to a huge increase in automotive usage as well as infrastructure and smartphone.
“MLCC suppliers are investing continously to meet the demand increase as demand will be higher than supply for at least a few years for MLCC business.
“This is a big opportunity and it is very important to supply as many MLCC as possible to customers in the recognition of Taiyo Yuden Group. Therefore, it is a necessity for MSTY to expand their capacity by building new factory,” he said.
He added that Taiyo Yuden was considering to further expand the MLCC business including acquisition of new land and building more factories. He believed that Sarawak has one of the very best locations for such expansion.
