Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies, as well as the largest in Europe, with 159,709 employees in over 60 countries and sales amounting to Euro 30.4 billion in 2005.

Philips has had a presence in Malaysia since the late 1930’s. The business activities of the Philips Group of Companies in Malaysia at that time included manufacturing, exports, local sales and marketing. In 1960, Philips Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which was incorporated initially, sold light bulbs through appointed agents. By the 1970s, Philips had taken over marketing operations and expanded its range of products. Today, having established a credible and reputable name in various industries which include lighting, semiconductor, medical systems, digital networks, domestic appliances and personal care and consumer electronics, the business activities of the company consist of manufacturing, sales, marketing, technical and application support.

In July 1992, Philips and Motorola established a joint venture company called Semiconductor Miniature Products (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Situated at Tuanku Jaafar Industrial Park in Seremban, this plant produces surface mount discrete semiconductors for global consumption and incorporates high tech assembly and testing. Today, the company is a fully owned by Royal Philips Electronics of Netherlands and employs a workforce of over 900 employees at its plant.

In August 2005, Royal Philips Electronics of Netherlands acquired Agilent Technology’s 47% shares in Lumileds Lighting Int B.V. This resulted in Philips having earned the controlling ownership in Lumileds, which produces solid-state lighting. Through this Philips will expand its leadership
profile in lighting by further expansion of the solid-state lighting business. Located in Penang, Lumileds has an annual production value of RM700million. Over the next few years, the world market for high brightness LEDs is forecasted to grow by approximately 25% per year and Philips is in the best position to reap the benefits from here, Malaysia is the only manufacturing facility for Lumileds and employs 1200 people out of the total 1760 it employs in US, Netherlands and Asia.

“The Malaysian government policies are pro-business and I strongly believe this will ensure the continued resilience of the economy and attract foreign investors. The education system continues to produce talented and skilled resources. The government is already making headways by making Malaysia a regional education hub and providing incentives for the development of knowledge workers, says Mr. Rajah Kumar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Philips Group of Companies, Malaysia. “Upgrading the infrastructure environment to ensure everyone is connected both online, offline, and the further development of the ICT landscape is important. This will enable big firms to outsource transactional activities to local based companies as well as support the business of smaller companies that cannot afford leased lines, with the availability of advanced broadband capabilities,” added Mr. Kumar.

Determined to maintain its profitable growth, Philips contributes significantly to the Malaysian economy with a turnover of around RM3 billion annually. Philips’ goal is to enhance its position in the Asia Pacific region and to ensure that the region contributes about one third of Philips’ global revenue. Key to Philips’ success is the need to grow in China, India and the ASEAN countries. Philips views ASEAN as a single integrated market of which Malaysia plays an important role. Philips Malaysia ranks second in contributing to the overall sales of Philips’ ASEAN group of companies.

“We are very pleased with our investments in Malaysia. The measure of success is in the return we get as tangible and intangible benefits. Intangible benefits are fundamentally important for the long-term sustainable growth of the firm. While the tangible benefits can be directly measured in terms of sales growth, profits and ROI, the intangible ones are deeper and are perceived, creating an emotional attachment to the firm, its people, and businesses”, observes the Chairman and CEO of the Philips Group of Companies in Malaysia.

Samsung has invested close to US$1.2 billion in Malaysia, making this the largest offshore investment for us and a true testimony of this country’s supportive environment for our business.

As an investor, we have enjoyed tax incentives, an efficient and developed infrastructure, and a quality labour force – factors which have contributed to the viability of our business in Malaysia. Samsung is encouraged by Malaysia’s strong support of industries such as ours and we remain fully committed to expanding our investments in the country.

The high standard of supporting industries here have also helped us to obtain quality local components, making Samsung products more competitive in the global market place.

Panasonic Industrial Company (M) Sdn Bhd started its operations in Malaysia in 1996 providing marketing, sales and services of electronic components and factory automation services to Malaysian electronic manufacturers.

Our products are for the export and domestic markets. As a company representing the Panasonic Group, all our products are obtained from other Panasonic subsidiaries and factories in Malaysia as well as worldwide.

Our company, which adheres to Panasonic’s corporate philosophy of “Ideas For Life”, is a one stop sales centre supporting the ever growing export and domestic markets. The company’s sales is derived from other consumer companies who use our electronic components in their products such as vacuum cleaners, mobile phones, televisions and computers.

Malaysia’s multiracial and multilingual workforce that is fluent in English was a pull factor for us in setting up operations in the country. In addition, the developed infrastructure and a vibrant business environment also makes it an ideal location for us to do business.

The Malaysian government’s pro-business policies and attractive incentives have enabled us to provide high quality products at competitive prices.

INTEL Microelectronics (M) Sdn. Bhd.-Intel Corporation was incorporated in California in 1968, it is the world leader in silicon innovation and the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker. Intel Malaysia was established in 1972 in Penang. From an initial workforce of only 100 employees, it has evolved to become Intel Corporation’s largest and most diverse site outside of the United States. Today, Intel Malaysia proudly supports a broad product range including microprocessors, chipsets, network processors, and microcontrollers; with over 4 billion microchips produced to date.

Intel Malaysia has contributed to the country’s social and economic development through its activities in high tech manufacturing, design and development of the latest Intel products, global shared services and corporate social responsibility. It has invested more than RM14 billion over the past 42 years and employing 9,000 highly-skilled Malaysians.

Intel Malaysia’s Global Service Center (GSC) in Malaysia will undertake research, design & development and related ancillary activities for semiconductors & other computing devices; and services activities relating to finance, human resources, information technology, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and sales marketing services.