DNeX, Foxconn unit to build and operate wafer fabrication plant in Malaysia

DNeX group managing director Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir

KUALA LUMPUR: Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNeX) and Big Innovation Holdings Limited (BIH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn), plan to set up a joint venture company to build and operate a new 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Malaysia.

DNeX, in a statement, said it had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on establishing and operating the semiconductor fabrication facility in the country.

Under the MoU, DNeX and BIH will work together to decide the location of the new fabrication plant in Malaysia, financing structure of the project, and initial management structure and key personnel of the new plant.

The new fabrication plant is expected to produce 40,000 wafers per month, encompassing the manufacturing of 28-nanometer and 40-nanometer technologies.

DNeX group managing director Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the project would allow the group and the country leap forward in terms of semiconductor technology advancement as well as offer a multitude of economic spillover effects to the country.

“The new fabrication plant will be the first 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Malaysia initiated by a bumiputera company. In addition, the new fab will be operating in the 28-nanometer technology node, which is the most advanced technology node in planar transistor technology. This technology node will have a long production life and have the widest range of applications,” he said.

“The building of the new fabrication plant is part of the group’s ongoing strategy to explore new opportunities in the technology field, innovate and grow as a group and address strong global demand for semiconductors," he added.