KULAI: The growth of advanced manufacturing in Johor must translate into job and business opportunities, says state executive councillor Lee Ting Han.
The Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman said the industry should develop local talent and the state's engineering and technological capabilities.
"Our young people should see Johor as a place where they can build a future in advanced technology," he said in his speech during the official opening of PRO3C (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd's manufacturing facility on Thursday (Oct 15).
He encouraged PRO3C, a subsidiary of Taiwan-listed FIC Global Inc, to work closely with educational institutions.
"We encourage you to work more closely with our TVET institutions and polytechnics, and to develop a place-and-train programme with the company," he said.
Lee said Malaysian businesses could also benefit from the industry's growth, particularly in precision tooling, automation, equipment servicing, packaging, logistics and other supporting activities.
"We welcome partnerships that help capable Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) understand those requirements, improve their processes and qualify for new business," he said.
Lee said another priority was to develop deeper engineering and technological capabilities among Malaysians.
"As this operation expands, we want more Malaysians to take responsibility for process improvement, production optimisation, reliability testing and increasingly complex engineering work," he said.
Lee said the state now has more than one gigawatt of operational data centre IT capacity, with another three to five gigawatts under construction or in the planning stage.
"We want Johor to host digital infrastructure and help manufacture the technology that powers it," he said.
The manufacturing facility in Senai is part of FIC Global Inc's expansion in South-East Asia. The facility began production at the end of 2025 before entering mass production in the first quarter of this year.
