Malaysia looks forward to Broadcom expansion

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia looks forward to global chipmaker Broadcom Ltd’s continued expansion in the country as well as strengthening its global supply chain activity, says Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Azman Mahmud.

His remarks come in the wake of Broadcom’s decision to relocate its headquarters back to the United States from Singapore.

The relocation to Delaware would bring US$20 billion (RM84.6 billion) in annual revenue back to the US.

Broadcom CEO Tan Hock Eng, who announced this at the White House on Thursday, said the decision to redomicile the company was because the US remained the best place to lead a business with a global footprint.

He also thanked US president Donald Trump for the steady improvement in business conditions.

Broadcom created waves in Malaysia last year when it announced its decision to expand operations in Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang.

Tan, a Penang-born, has been the company’s president and CEO since early last year.

“We’ve been updated by Broadcom that its current operations in Malaysia will not be affected, particularly the new global distribution warehouse that has been fully operational since 28 August 2017,” Azman told NST Business.

The warehouse is projected to ship globally more than 16 billion units worth RM65 billion a year once its principal hub in Penang was fully operational. That will make it the largest electronics and electrical (E&E) exporter in Malaysia.

“We look forward to Broadcom’s continued expansion in Malaysia by increasing the outsourcing of manufacturing activities to local companies as well as strengthening its global supply chain activity.”

On US investments in Malaysia, Azman said the world’s largest economy remained among the country’s top 10 foreign investors and trading partners.

From 2015 to June this year, Mida has approved 49 manufacturing projects with US participation involving investments of RM5.9 billion. This shows that confidence in Malaysia’s economic landscape was high, he added.

Broadcom’s presence would further strengthen Malaysia’s E&E ecosystem and create vast business opportunities for companies in supporting industries.

Malaysia is the world’s seventh largest exporter of E&E products with total exports of RM287.7 billion last year.

AFP PIC United States President Donald Trump sharing a light moment with Broadcom chief executive officer Tan Hock Eng at the White House in Washington DC on Thursday as the latter announcing his company’s repatriation plan to the US.