Oct 14 – Greatech Technology Bhd’s RM51mil new plant on a seven-acre site in Batu Kawan is scheduled for occupancy by next May.

Group chairperson Ooi Hooi Kiang (pic) said the 265,000 sq ft modern production and office building would accelerate the timeline for customer delivery, supporting sustainable growth for the future.

“The building is scheduled for completion by April 2022, and it will be ready for occupancy in May 2022.

“By mid-2022, the group’s building capacity will see a sizeable increase to 1,100,000 sq ft with 1,200 manpower capacity to exploit better opportunities with existing and new customers.

“It will house 500 employees, increasing the strength of the existing 770 staff, of which 50% are engineers.

“The new factory building marks a clear commitment to the group’s roots in Penang and supports job growth in the northern region,” she said.

Ooi spoke at the Greatech Batu Kawan III virtual groundbreaking and new slogan launch ceremony yesterday.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Lim Ban Hong and Greatech chief executive officer Datuk Tan Eng Kee witnessed the event.

Ooi said the group’s order book would grow for the next two to three years as the group expanded into the life science and semiconductor sectors.

“Despite the severe economic impact caused by the pandemic, resulting in broad and significant business disruptions, our business continued to flourish by leaps and bounds.

“As of August, we have secured a total order book of RM369mil.

“This achievement is only made possible with the solid foundation laid two to three years ago.

“We experienced significant growth as we successfully penetrated the electric vehicle (EV) battery market in 2020.

“EV battery customers grew from one to four over the past year.

“We foresee this segment will continue to grow with more demand generated by both existing and new customers,” she said.

According to Ooi, the group’s order book will continue to grow for two to three years as it expands into the life science and semiconductor sectors.

According to Lim, the machinery and equipment (M&E) industry remains a catalytic sector for Malaysia’s economic transformation agenda.

“The industry is expected to assume a crucial role in the 12th Malaysia Plan to reset the nation’s economy battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, through accelerating technology adoption and innovation.

“On the domestic front, the sector represents more than 2,000 companies, employing 90,000 workers,” he said.

According to Lim, despite the impact of the pandemic, the export performance for M&E products in the first half of this year (January – June 2021) shows a 28% increase from the same period of 2020, with exports worth RM23.6bil.

“Although there is a positive growth in exports, the M&E sector remains as a net importer.

“We hope that both the government and industry can work together to address this as we plan for the M&E to be a major export earner for the nation,” he added.

Source: The Star