Mida approves RM464.6m investments in medical device industry

As seen in The Star, Business News, 15 July 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 11 projects worth RM464.6 million in the medical device industry that would create 1,633 jobs in the first quarter of 2015.

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Chief Executive Officer Datuk Azman Mahmud said 82% of the projects were domestic investments while the rest were foreign investments.

Another 10 projects in the pipeline worth RM600 million comprise foreign and domestic investments, he told a news conference after the launch of the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI) medical device industry outlook report 2015 here on Tuesday.

He said AMMI played a prominent role in the development of the country’s medical device industry, which positioning Malaysia as a manufacturing hub for medical devices regionally.

Azman said the capability was supported by solid ecosystem of strong medical device supporting industries and global conformity assessment bodies that were already present in the country.

The industry holds great promise as it plays a critical role in strengthening the country’s healthcare landscape and its reliability are recognised worldwide, with the total export soared 13% to RM13.5 billion in 2014, he added.

He said robust growth was also recorded for the first four months of this year with export worth RM4.8 billion compared with RM4.2 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

To date, Malaysia has more than 190 medical device manufacturers with investments valued at RM13.2 billion and 57,872 people employed, he said.

Azman said the presence of multinational companies such as Ansell, Ambu B.Braun, Haemonetics and St Jude Medical had greatly contributed to the development of the industry in the country.

Local companies making forays into the industry, include ABio Orthopedics, Straits Orthopedics, UWC Healthcare, Top Glove and many more, he added.

“This industry is export oriented, have high value added, a lot of spillover to local industries. Certainly we are encouraging more investments in the industry by offering good incentive packages,” he said.- Bernama

As seen in The Star , Business News – 15 July 2015