Malaysia to woo 20 more MNCs to set up principal hub

Mustapa: "I anticipate that foreign SMEs who want to set up their hub here will also seek more opportunities with local counterparts, such as joint ventures and so forth."

KUALA LUMPUR: The government aims to bring in a further 20 multinational companies (MNCs) to establish their principal hub in Malaysia this year following investments totalling RM7.31 billion derived from 12 MNCs to date.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the 12 MNCs were in involved in the aerospace, electrical  and  electronic (E&E), food  and  beverage (F&B), engineering and resource-based industries.

He said another 20 MNCs were awaiting approval from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).

"It's a mixed group of MNCs, both small and large companies from various sectors, including the E&E, oil and gas, healthcare and services," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Mustapa said the principal hub would enable companies to provide a central point for their clients through seamless extensions for their distribution activities, as well as other management responsibilities. They include capability development, customer management, manpower management and standardised forms of delivery and compliance. 

The scheme, which provides locational flexibility throughout the country, creates high-value jobs while bringing better production yields to the MNCs, with greater efficiency, cost savings, as well as reduce reliance on unskilled manpower. 

Earlier, Mustapa announced the setting up of a principal hub by JCY Group, one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drive mechanical components, in Johor.

Serving as the global procurement centre for the group, the principal hub controls the supply chain functions that were previously undertaken by its entities in Singapore, British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Thailand and China. 

JCY, the first listed company to join the principal hub initiative, recorded a revenue of RM1.9 billion last year and has a market capitalisation of RM1.4 billion. - Bernama