Bosch provides an update on Malaysian expansion
In the summer of 2020, Bosch signed an agreement to set up a new semiconductor test center in Penang with the goal that production would commence in 2023. But with the current developments surrounding the pandemic, has that schedule changed at all?
In the initial announcement about the expansion, the company said it would start construction in 2021 and was looking to have production ready to begin in 2023. With the new 14,000 square metre test center, the company would also create 400 new jobs. Evertiq reached out to the German company to see how the construction of site is progressing and if there is a more specific start date on the horizon.
Malaysia has however seen a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. And through 2021 the country has implemented movement control orders (MCO) – which the country has extended several times – to fight the spread of the virus.
With the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, the government has vowed not to reimpose lockdowns, as reported by Reuters. But with the ongoing developments concerning the pandemic, has Bosch’s expansion in Malaysia been affected?
“Construction of the semiconductor testing facility is currently ongoing and according to schedule with the target to complete within the second half of 2022,” the company says in an emailed statement to Evertiq, further stating that "We hope to start our operations in this new facility in the first half of 2023.”
