MALAYSIA A MAGNET FOR MID-SIZED JAPANESE FIRMS
Stable political environment, skilled workforce among reasons foreign firms invest in the country
MALAYSIA is an important investment destination not only for Japan’s large corporations but also its mediumsized companies.
Malaysia’s stable political environment, local capability and quality products are some of the reasons why some small players have been in the country for many decades now.
Three mid-sized Japanese companies have shared the journey of their businesses in the country and concluded that their initial decision to look at Malaysia as an investment destination was correct.
At the one-day Malaysia Nikkei Business Forum 2017 here on Thursday, Masakazu Fujita, the corporate adviser for Terasaki Electric, spoke about how he felt about his investments in his factory in Shah Alam.
“The biggest appeal in our investment here versus other factories in the region is the political stability, which we have enjoyed since we came here over 20 years ago,” he said, adding that there were 40 companies providing support in terms of supplies.
Also of interest was the experience of ROHM-Wako Electronics (Malaysia), the first Japanese firm to invest in Kelantan.
Not only is the company pleased with the workers’ ability to converse in English, but also the fact that they are hardworking, said Hideki Hashimoto, the president of ROHM-Wako.
So far, the company has invested RM53.4 million in its Kota Baru plant, which produces chip-sized wireless diodes and has 2024 employees.
To Hiroshi Sensaki, director of ABC Cooking Studio Worldwide, the path to success was smoother given that Japanese cuisine is popular among Malaysians.
“Japanese food has a bright future in Malaysia and our experience here has led us to expand our operations to other Muslim countries like Indonesia and United Arab Emirates.”
Currently operating more than 135 studios in Japan and 16 studios in major cities in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, ABC Cooking’s flagship studio opened at Pavilion Elite here in December last year.
It has proved to be a hit with Malaysians as it provides cooking, bread, cake and “wagashi” lessons, allowing you to experience the joy of cooking in a comfortable and relaxing environment. “We now plan to open four more shops by 2020. We are looking at Penang, Johor Baru and Malacca, in line with our target of having 100 outlets in Asia,’ said Sensaki.
For global power specialist Terasaki, which also as presence in Japan, Britain, Italy, Spain, Singapore, China and Brazil, its policy has always been to have locals head their local entities.
That decision was the main contributing factor to the success of their business operations, said Fujita.
“Japanese always ask us if we are happy with the quality of the products produced. My response is it’s up to us, as it’s our responsibility to have as many inspections and auto inspect systems in all our factories.
“In the case of Malaysia, our factory is already decades-old and we believe in local capability.”