ISKANDAR PUTERI: About 120 highly-skilled workers are needed to fill the vacancies at a biopharmaceutical company here, says Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
He said Biocon Sdn Bhd, which has poured RM1bil in investments to set up its facilities in Johor, already has about 800 employees on the payroll.
“According to its development plan, the company aims to become the largest insulin producer in the world.
“As such, it needs another 120 highly-skilled employees and I have asked state investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han to link local universities with the company to fill those vacancies by giving priority to Johoreans,” he said in a statement on Friday (Feb 3).
Meanwhile, Lee, who also accompanied Onn Hafiz on a recent visit to the company, said the facility was part of the state government’s industrial and logistics cluster.
He added that the facility is the largest integrated insulin producer in Asia, besides being the only one in Malaysia.
“It is also the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-recognised sterile biological facility in the country,” he said, adding that the state government is ready to help the company and other investors in their plans for investment and expansion.