Infineon Technologies, a Germany-based semiconductor manufacturing company and a subsidiary of Siemens, has announced plans to invest $5.5bn (€5.04bn) to expand its facility in Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Malaysia. The company plans to manufacture chips to be used in the production of electric vehicles (EVs).
Kulim Hi-Tech Park already contains Infineon’s wafer fabrication facility, which employs around 1,500 staff. The new facility will see Infineon build the world’s largest 200mm silicon carbide power fab.
In a statement, Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon, said: “The market for silicon carbide shows accelerating growth, not only in automotive but also in a broad range of industrial applications such as solar, energy storage and high-power EV charging. With the Kulim expansion, we will secure our leadership position in this market. With the industry’s leading scale and a unique cost position, we are leveraging our competitive position of best-in-class silicon carbide trench technology, the broadest package portfolio and unrivalled application understanding. These factors are the areas of differentiation and success in the industry.”
Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, added: "Infineon’s vision on green technology and sustainability puts it right at home in Malaysia. Infineon and other well-established German corporations’ continued faith in Malaysia is a vote of confidence in Malaysia's new economic growth agenda premised on inclusivity and sustainability, enabled by strong policies on knowledge transfer, quality investments, business enablement and socioeconomic well-being based on equitable sharing of the nation’s wealth."
Malaysia has scored a series of impressive foreign investment wins in recent months, including a $3bn (RM13.91bn) manufacturing investment by Texas Instruments, while US-based Rapid Manufacturing will open a regional centre, also in Kulim, that will create 2,000 jobs, and Vantage Data Centers, also of the US, has announced it will open a $3bn expansion in the country.
