With cheap housing and skilled workers, Kulim attracts huge foreign investments
By Reme Ahmad , Straits Times
27 Dec 2004
(KEDAH) - IF OFFICIALS at the Kulim High-Technology Park (KHTP) seem to be walking with a swagger these days, they have good reason for it.
Europe's second biggest chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG two weeks ago said it planned to build a US$1 billion (S$1.65 billion) plant in the park, at a time when most foreign direct investments (FDIs) are going to China.
That puts the growing Kedah township on the map.
The single investment will account for a quarter of the RM15.6 billion (S$6.74 billion) in approved manufacturing FDIs that all of Malaysia pulled in last year.
It also seemed to take a bit of the lustre off nearby Penang, which has been getting most of the foreign investment attention in recent years.
'Our land and labour costs are generally 25 per cent lower than in Penang,' said Datuk Ahmad Shukri Tajuddin, group CEO of Kulim Technology Park Corp.
The park's advantages include its proximity to Penang's Bayan Lepas airport - it is just 45km away via the Penang Bridge.
The Butterworth Container Port on mainland Penang is even closer, just a 27km drive.
KHTP has a total workforce of 10,500 skilled workers - not bad for a state that has so many padi fields that it is known as Malaysia's rice bowl.
Infineon said its new plant, which expects to ramp up production in 2006, would employ 1,700 people. It is the company's second plant in the country after Malacca.
The German firm joins Intel, Fuji Electric, Showa Denko, Malaysian government-owned wafer foundry Silterra and others to call the Kulim park home.
Launched in 1996, the RM2 billion park covers 1,450ha - which makes it slightly larger than Pulau Ubin.
And it targets mainly small and medium-sized industries, said Datuk Ahmad.
KHTP houses 33 companies with 15 in semiconductor-linked products and the rest in service-related companies.
A visit to the park this week found it busier than in April 2002 when Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, then trade and industry minister, visited KHTP.
Many more houses have been built in the area, and more factories have also risen nearby.
For Mr Arifuddin Hasnan, human resource director at the 490-worker Fuji Electric plant, Kulim's location near Penang meant the high-tech plant could easily tap into the island's pool of skilled workers.
For others, Kulim has such advantages as housing that is less expensive than in Penang.
Workers can choose to live at the edge of a 27-hole golf course at the Kulim Golf and Country Club for a fraction of the price of a small bungalow on Penang island.
A two-storey bungalow on 557 sq m of land costs about RM360,000, said Ms Laily Sharif, a marketing executive for the developer. The rent for a single-storey semi-detached house near the club is only RM450 a month.
Both prices are about a quarter of those in Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
But finding nightlife and shopping malls require a drive to the bustling Penang towns of Perai or Butterworth. Still, to some, Kulim will continue to give Penang a run for its money.
Mr Arifuddin, 48, said: 'The quality of life is better here and we have plenty of golf courses in Kedah.' http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsdaily/news001_20041227.html |
