KUALA LUMPUR: Chinas Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd will invest up to RM5.40bil, involving the acquisition of a mill, and a factory to focus on paper products in Malaysia, endorsing the countrys attractive investment environment and business friendly policies.
The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Hong Kong-listed Nine Dragons said in a joint statement on Tuesday the first manufacturing plant — ND Paper (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. in Bentong, Pahang involves acquiring an existing pulp and paper mill with total investment value of RM1.2bil.
The second plant, ND Paper Malaysia (Selangor) Sdn Bhd in Banting, Selangor will have an investment value of RM4.2bil. It will focus on test liner, kraft liner, corrugated medium paper, paper and pulp, and the project is expected to be in operation by 2022.
These projects will create a total of 2,180 job opportunities of which, nearly 90% will be Malaysians, the statement said.
Both factories will be fully automated and equipped with Industry 4.0 technology such as system integration, Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytic and cloud computing from Europe and China.
Earlier, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, received a courtesy call from Nine Dragons Paper, led by its chairlady, Cheung Yan, at his office in Putrajaya.
The meeting was also attended by Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali; MIDA chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud, and Nine Dragons Paper deputy CEO Zhang Cheng Fei.
In welcoming the groups latest overseas venture into Malaysia, Muhyiddin acknowledged that: As of December 2020, a total of 572 manufacturing projects with China interest with investments of RM78.61bil have been approved by MIDA.
Nine Dragons Paper and its subsidiaries are among the major paper and paperboard producers in Asia, engaging in the manufacturing of containerboard products, including linerboard, high performance corrugating medium, coated duplex board and carton box.
The Prime Minister said Nine Dragons Paper is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges main board and currently ranked first in the China Fortune 500 list under the sector of paper, printing and packaging companies.
The group owns facilities in China, Vietnam and the United States with an annual production capacity of more than 18.4 million tonnes and valued at more than 60 billion Renminbi (RMB). The group also has a total workforce of 19,000 people.
We are confident that Nine Dragons Paper being a China Fortune 500 company will be an endorsement for Malaysia as a preferred investment destination, he added.
Cheung Yan pointed out the investment environment in Malaysia is attractive.
The countrys strategic location and infrastructure; established local supply chains that are well-integrated into the global value chain as well as the strength of its skilled talent pool offer an undeniable competitive advantage to Nine Dragons Papers business.
Moreover, Malaysias business friendly policies such as its latest initiative of the One Stop Centre (OSC) for Business Travellers managed by MIDA to ease travel for businesses further strengthened our confidence in investing here, Cheung Yan said.
I am very grateful to make this investment decision based on these fundamentals. We believe governments and enterprises need to mutually support and collaborate with each other. We are ready to be part of Malaysias diverse industry.
Muhyiddin said the Malaysian Governments policy is always pro-business and very supportive and ready to offer attractive incentives to investors.
To ensure Malaysia remains steady on the path of economic recovery and growth, the government, through MIDA set up the OSC effective Oct 2,2020. This initiative eases the movement of short-term and long-term business travellers by expediting their entry to do business in Malaysia through a dedicated committee represented by MITI, MIDA, Ministry of Health (MOH) and Immigration Department of Malaysia (IMI).
This committee meets daily to ensure the legitimacy and health status of business travellers before they enter into Malaysia.
Decisions are made within three working days for each applicant upon receiving complete information.

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