KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Nine Dragons Paper, a Chinese paper manufacturing company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, will invest 5.4 billion ringgit (about 1.33 billion U.S. dollars) in Malaysia, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said on Tuesday.
The group's investments in Malaysia consists of two manufacturing facilities, namely ND Paper (Malaysia) in Bentong, Pahang involving the acquisition of an existing pulp and paper mill with a total investment value of 1.2 billion ringgit; and ND Paper Malaysia (Selangor) in Banting, Selangor with an investment value of 4.2 billion ringgit that will focus on test liner, kraft liner, corrugated medium paper, paper and pulp.
"These projects will create a total of 2,180 job opportunities of which, nearly 90 percent will be Malaysians. The project in Banting, Selangor is expected to be in operation by 2022," it added.
Both factories will be fully automated and equipped with Industry 4.0 technology such as system integration, Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytic and cloud computing from Europe and China, said the MIDA.
Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited and its subsidiaries are among the major paper and paperboard producers in Asia, engaging in the manufacturing of containerboard products, including linerboard, high performance corrugating medium, coated duplex board and carton box, according to the MIDA.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin received a courtesy call from Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited led by its Chairlady Cheung Yan at his office in Putrajaya on Tuesday.
In welcoming the latest investment, Muhyiddin said a total of 572 manufacturing projects with China interest with investments of 78.61 billion ringgit have been approved by MIDA as of December 2020.
"We are confident that Nine Dragons Paper being a China Fortune 500 company will be an endorsement for Malaysia as a preferred investment destination," said Muhyiddin. (1 U.S. dollar equals 4.06 ringgit) Enditem