Environmental Scan 2017: Human Capital Issues within the Medical Devices Sector
Table 2-5: Medical Devices Projects Approved by MIDA, 2013-2017
Year No. of Projects
Approved Total Investment
(RM billion) Domestic
Investment
(RM billion) Foreign
Investment
(RM billion) Potential
Employment
2013 42 4.9 3.4 1.5 18,668
2014 42 2.2 1.2 1.0 7,300
2015 30 1.8 0.6 1.2 7,872
2016 41 2.9 1.3 1.6 7,386
2017 25 2.2 0.6 1.6 2,931
Source: MIDA
Some examples of recent new investment or expansion in the industry:
i) Paramit opened a new 162,000 square feet facility in Penang in January 2017. This new
site would be the region’s largest manufacturing facility for complex medical devices and
life science instruments, e.g systems for genetic and molecular testing, robotic surgery,
cancer treatment. The Penang facility is designed from the ground up to match the state-
of-the-art technology and systems employed at the company's headquarters in California,
which integrates worry-free development and proprietary manufacturing processes.
Paramit also plans to harmonize design, engineering and manufacturing to create a
"transferless" process from concept to manufacturing. The Paramit facility is located at
Penang Science Park in Bukit Minyak, and is expected to employ close to 800 employees.
ii) In September 2017, Boston Scientific Corp has commenced operation at its new
manufacturing plant in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang. This is the 19th global
manufacturing facility for the medical device giant, and its first in Asia. Boston Scientific’s
new manufacturing plant spans 375,000 square feet over a 20-acre parcel. The facility will
begin producing two of the company’s medical products that are used in cardiovascular
and endoscopy procedures in 2018 before expanding its production to include the urology
product families next year. Boston Scientific has more than 13,000 products in its global
portfolio. Boston Scientific has plans to add as many as 400 new local jobs at the facility
over the next 2 years.
iii) Fresenius Medical Care, which manufactures products and provides services for
individuals with renal diseases, expanded its regional manufacturing plant in Bandar
Enstek, Negeri Sembilan in September 2017. The plant is a state-of-the-art facility and will
be Fresenius Medical Care's regional manufacturing hub for Southeast Asia. In addition to
supplying high-quality haemodialysis concentrates and disinfectants, the plant produces
Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) products necessary for advanced Continuous Ambulatory PD
(CAPD) treatment.
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