Infineon added investments due to confidence in unity govt's stability - Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has revealed that semiconductor company Infineon Technologies (Infineon) AG had voiced concerns about the country's political instability when considering additional investments recently.

Anwar said that after being assured of the strength of the Unity Government and that it would remain until the end of the term, the German company became confident of investing another EUR5 billion (RM25 billion).

"I said, God willing, five years uninterrupted, we explained about the economic policy, we explained the concept of Malaysia Madani, they were satisfied, Alhamdulillah," he said while speaking at the Ceramah Mega Perdana programme at Ukay Perdana here, yesterday.

Meanwhile, Anwar said the company also expressed concern and asked about the existence of religious and ethnic extremist factions in the country.

"They were worried that this group would win. I said they won’t, God willing. When I replied that way, they (Infeneon) brought the matter to the (board) meeting five days ago in Germany," he said.

On Thursday (Aug 3), Infineon announced plans to upgrade its facility in Kulim, Kedah to build the largest 200-millimetre (mm) silicon carbide (SiC) power fabrication plant in the world with an additional investment of EUR5 billion over the next five years.

Over the past five decades, Infineon has made Malaysia an important hub for wafer fabrication in Kulim and carries out semiconductor chip packaging operations in Batu Berendam, Melaka. - BERNAMA