CJ Cheil, Arkema plan RM2b biotech plant

CJ CheilJedang Corp, South Korea’s biggest food processor, and French chemicals company Arkema SA will jointly invest RM2 billion (US$669 million) in a Malaysian biotechnology plant.

The venture is the largest foreign investment to date in the Southeast Asian nation’s biotechnology industry and will manufacture thiochemicals and bio-methionine for use in animal feed stocks, the government said in a statement.

“The project is expected to generate about RM20 billion of cumulative sales by 2020 and provide employment opportunities,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in the statement issued at a signing ceremony today in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia expects foreign direct investment to exceed US$10 billion this year as companies invest in electronics, solar energy, gas and oil, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said on Aug 10. The government last year identified a total US$444 billion worth of private-sector projects it wanted to champion by 2020 as Malaysia strives to become a high-income nation.

The plant will be located in northern Terengganu state and use the nearby Kuantan and Kemamam container ports, Dominique Namer, Arkema’s Asia-Pacific president, told reporters. “Raw materials can be easily obtained” in the area, he said.

CheilJedang and Arkema will invest over 10 years, the statement said. -- Bloomberg