Early in January 2021, SK Nexilis, a global No.1 company in producing copper foil for batteries, a core material for lithium-ion batteries announced that they will set up their first overseas investment in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. With proposed investments of approximately USD1 billion, the company plans to construct a copper foil manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons. The facility’s construction will tentatively begin in the first half of 2021 and commercial operations to kickstart by 2023. Once operational, the new facility will increase SK Nexilis’ copper foil production capacity by three times its current global capacity to about 100,000 tons.

Following this announcement, MIDA Seoul together with Education and Training Office, Public Service Department JPA) Seoul and SK Nexilis Co. Ltd organised a sharing session with Malaysian students in the Republic of Korea for SK Nexilis’ Global Internship Programme on 7 July. The objective of the sharing session was to introduce SK Nexilis and launch the SK Nexilis Global Internship Programme to all Malaysian students in the Republic of Korea. This sharing session is part of MIDA Seoul’s ongoing efforts to effectively address investors’ talent needs. During the sharing session, the students were briefed in detail on the internship programme. This included the duration, allowances and career development that has been planned by SK Nexilis for all selected students upon the completion of their study in Korea. A total of 25 Malaysian students attended the event.

There are more than 500 JPA, MARA (People’s Trust Council) and private Malaysian students currently enrolled in Korean universities, taking advantage of their cutting-edge science and engineering courses. This is in line with the Malaysian Government’s vision in producing industry-relevant graduates that are ready to enter the job market and are ultimately able to contribute to the economic growth of the.

The CEO of SK Nexilis, Mr. KIM Young-Tae in his welcoming speech expressed his sincere gratitude to the Malaysian students who attended the sharing session and highlighted that SK Nexilis’ investment in Malaysia will solidify its position as a global leading company in the copper foil industry. He hopes that the students can become part of the global talent pipeline in SK Nexilis.

During the session, Mr. Reduan, the Director of MIDA Seoul emphasised that this initiative between SK Nexilis and the Malaysian students in Korea is a clear testimony that Malaysia is capable in providing investors with young and highly skilled talents. MIDA’s initiative to enhance the employability of overseas Malaysian graduates is in line with the aspiration of the Government to ensure companies investing in Malaysia are able to obtain competitive talents with specific skill sets. Moving forward, MIDA Seoul will continue to work closely with JPA to promote overseas internships among Malaysian students with Korean companies.