Trade and Investment Mission to Germany, France and United Kingdom 12 – 23 October 2021

MITI has recently concluded the Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) to Germany, France & United Kingdom from 12-23 October 2021 as part of the continuous effort to draw investments into the country. Led by YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the TIM involved engagements with the ministers of host countries, Round Table Meetings with prominent industry stakeholders and one-to-one meetings with potential investors. MIDA was represented by Dato’ Arham Abdul Rahman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Committed Investment in 2021 & 2022

The TIM successfully secured a total of RM14.1billion in committed investment for 2021 and 2022. Notable potential investments into Malaysia include:

BASF SE, a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world with a commercial presence in more than 80 countries, including Malaysia has announced a potential expansion of its existing production of 2-ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHAcid) in Kuantan, Pahang, partnering with PETRONAS Chemical Group Berhad. BASF’s expansion with PETRONAS is timely as it would enable BASF to further leverage on Malaysia’s advantage point as a launching pad into the chemicals market of the Asia- Pacific region.

Hansen & Rosenthal (H&R) Group, undertakes the development and manufacturing of unique chemical and pharmaceutical products based on crude oil. Established in 1919 and with over 1,660 employees in 42 locations worldwide, H&R has renewed its commitment to reinvest RM200 million in Malaysia through the establishment of an oil refinery to produce label-free oils, aromatic oils and paraffinic oils at a new facility in Lumut, Perak.

Infineon Technologies AG, is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, employing more than 45,000 employees and is one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. In Malaysia, Infineon has been one of the backbones of the nation’s semiconductor industry, having invested more than RM20 billion in Malaysia. The TIM delegates were briefed on Infineon’s next major expansion plan that involves the fabrication of advanced material wafers, namely, Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC).

Schott AG, a German multinational company specialising in the manufacture of special glass, glass-ceramics, and other innovative materials has been in Malaysia since 1974. The company recorded €2.2 billion (RM10.7 billion) in global sales last year.

Recently, the company has diversified its business activity in Malaysia by establishing a Global IT Centre known as Schott International IT Competence Centre (SAITS) in Kuala Lumpur, worth RM72 million. Moving forward, Schott AG is currently undertaking a site selection for its diversification project in Southeast Asia to manufacture Pharmaceutical Tubing.

Daimler AG, is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany and is one of the world’s leading car and truck manufacturers. The company has decided to make Malaysia as their Regional Parts Logistics Centre for APAC to manage and distribute an assortment of replacement spare parts and accessories, serving 22 countries.

Adisseo Group, is one of the world’s most prominent and leading experts in additives for animal feed.

The company has a presence worldwide and is involved in design, production and marketing of nutritional solutions for sustainable animal feed. Adisseo is interested in producing additives for animal feed, namely methionine and ammonium sulphate (byproduct).

InnovaFeed, is a French-based biotech company that produces natural and sustainable ingredients for animal feed and plant nutrition from insect rearing (Hermetia Illucens). It provides an alternative sustainable, natural, and highperformance protein source for the industry. InnovaFeed is exploring the possibility of establishing the world’s largest insect growing factory in ASEAN. Its innovative insect rearing process addresses the strain on natural resources in a responsible and sustainable way.

Innovafeed’s utilisation of its own proprietary technology and know-how, involving artificial intelligence, robotics and automation in its production processes is an exemplary lookout for many Malaysian companies and contribute in driving the biotech industry forward.

Saint-Gobain is one of the most prominent French multinational corporations, with a presence in 70 countries with over 167,000 employees worldwide, generating a turnover of more than €38 billion (RM186 billion).
Saint-Gobain manufactures and distributes materials and solutions for the construction, mobility, healthcare and other industrial application markets. Saint-Gobain is aggressively looking to diversify its product offerings into external building material applications to complement their existing internal building material production in Malaysia.

Synthomer is one of the world’s leading suppliers of acrylic and vinyl emulsion polymers, specialty polymers, styrene-butadiene and acrylonitrile-butadiene latex; which are used in many market segments including coatings, construction, technical textiles, paper and synthetic latex gloves. To date, the company has invested more than RM1 billion in Malaysia at its facility in Johor to undertake the manufacturing of synthetic latex, steadily supporting the growth of local industry linkages and offering high value job opportunities. Synthomer is planning to further undertake expansion in Malaysia to produce next generation synthetic latex and upgrade its Synthomer’s Asia Innovation Center (AIC).

In addition, during the TIM, the Senior Minister and Minister of  Highlights MITI witnessed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing between MIDA and Mouvement des Enterprises de France (MEDEF) International in Paris, France. The MOU formalises the continuous partnership between both organisations to further encourage, promote and facilitate potential investments and business cooperation for mutually beneficial outcomes.

The MOU was signed by Dato’ Arham Abdul Rahman, CEO of MIDA and Mr. Philippe Gautier, CEO of MEDEF International. This partnership will enable more Malaysian businesses and technology providers to better connect to the global supply chain with MEDEF International’s global network in more than 120 markets.

The Government of Malaysia, through MIDA will engage closely with MEDEF International to further boost and realise French investments in Malaysia.

In summary, the TIM has proven the Malaysian Government’s unyielding commitment towards stimulating the economy through promoting strategic investments and international trade. MIDA foresees that the TIM will open new opportunities and generate positive spill-overs for Malaysians and local supply chain.

As the world is entering the post-pandemic era and countries around the world is gradually opening their borders to restart their economy, the TIM was indeed a proactive measure taken by MIDA and MITI to attract inflows of high technology investments to further enhance the economic growth of Malaysia.