(Oct 27): Multinational companies (MNCs) operating in Penang are not pulling out, state investment promotion agency investPenang said today, denying reports and talk that several companies, which have earned the state the moniker Sillicon Valley of the East, would cause the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.

InvestPenang director Datuk Lee Kah Choon said checks with the companies concerned, such as German automotive system maker Blaupunkt and computer storage device company HGST, found that such news were untrue.

He said the clarification came "right from the horse's mouth" and among the responses to such reports were, "rubbish".

"We checked with Blaupunkt. At the moment, they have no intention to carry out retrenchment… it could be because its parent company has not made up its mind on what to do.

"They have no plans to close, unlike what was reported recently. That came from the horse's mouth.

"We also checked with HGST just 48 hours ago. They say there is no such thing. It may be sensational for the press (to report that companies are closing), but this is part and parcel of doing business in the world.

"These are all MNCs where business decisions are made thousands of miles away from Penang, which is just one of the many places they operate in around the world.

"InvestPenang has asked them and they say they are not moving out," Lee told a press conference this morning.

Recently it was reported that several MNCs would cease operations in Penang such as US computer data storage company Western Digital, which was said to be moving to Klang Valley.

HGST was said to be moving to Johor; electronic and fibre optic connector maker Amphenol to China, while The New Straits Times reported that Blaupunkt would be winding up operations on mainland Penang.

There were also reports on mergers and acquisitions involving semiconductor company AMD, Motorola Solutions, Western Digital and Dell.

The reports, which quoted industry sources, said that these developments in Penang's electronics and electrical industry would affect over 1,000 jobs.

Lee said AMD, which served the global market, would continue to operate in Penang with no planned workforce reduction while the company went on a "strategic transformation to further sharpen focus and operations on designing high-performance products".

Motorola, he said, would also continue its research and development operations in Penang and its employees at the manufacturing plant it sold to Sanmina Corp would be transferred over.

He also said despite the developments at Western Digital, the company would continue to operate in Penang, just like Amphenol, it would keep its two facilities in the mainland running while its plant on the island would be gradually phased out.

Although Dell no longer manufactured laptops at its plant in the state, it has been providing customer services, Lee added.

Lee said Penang has a strong supply chain to serve MNCs here, an advantage crucial for the state's survival in the semiconductor industry, apart from the availability of human resource well-verse in the business.

"A few months back, Hewlett-Packard was slashing thousands of workers, but the next day, it announced that it was setting up shop in Batu Kawan on the mainland.

"It was because the company was moving into a new business and needed to relocate its production to a suitable location.

"Another example was Sandisk, which reported a slowdown in business, but announced that it was setting up a new plant in Batu Kawan a few months later."

Lee said although business with MNCs were changing, Penang was still moving ahead by branching out to the services, and research and development businesses.

He said new investments were still coming in with jobs to offer. – The Malaysian Insider