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Frontken aims to make Malaysia its regional hub
By Marina Emmanuel
marinae@nstp.com.my
January 24 2007
FRONTKEN Corporation Bhd, which began operating at its RM25 million facility at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park barely a year ago, aims to make Malaysia its regional hub for operations by further expanding at the same site in Kedah.
Executive chairman and managing director Willie Wong said the company expects to have its second plant up and running by the end of 2008.
“Our first phase is nearly fully utilised, and the second plant will house new projects and some existing operations being carried out in our Singapore facility, ” he told reporters after International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz officiated at the company’s first Kulim plant.
The new facility, Frontken’s 10th in the region, began operating in November 2006 to meet rising demand for the company ’s services, predominantly from clientele in the semiconductor sector.
Frontken offers surface metamorphosis services including core advanced thermal spray coating services, advanced precision cleaning, recycling and refurbishment services and applied research and development services.
Its technologies modify the surfaces of materials to improve performance, hence increasing efficiency of many processes and reduce the costs of operating and maintaining equipment.
Frontken’s plant is on a 2.7ha site at the science park with a built up area of 32,000 sq ft.
“As we have not fully utilised the whole land area, there is space to accommodate two more facilities,” he said, adding that the company will likely invest the same amount it did with the first plant.
Wong said the prospects for the precision cleaning industry in Singapore and Malaysia are promising with semiconductor players expanding the capacities of their existing wafer fabrication facilities which bodes well for independent service providers like Frontken.
With the new factory on board, Frontken will have five facilities in Malaysia. The other five plants are in Singapore (three), Thailand and the Philippines.
On Frontken’s plans to transfer its listing from the Malaysian Exchange of Securities Dealing & Automated Quotation market to the main board this year, Wong said the company will make a submission to Bursa Malaysia after closing its financial year end in July.
He also said that Frontken’s plans to buy into Taiwanese surface metamorphosis giant Area Green Technology Corp is in its final phase of negotiat ions.
“Once that is done, we would have created inroads into the Taiwan market and from there, springboard into neighbouring countr ies,” Wong said.
In her speech, Rafidah said between January and November last year, Malaysia imported RM34.2 billion worth of machinery and equipment, while its exports of the same items stood at RM18.1 billion.
She also stressed on the importance for small- and medium- sized enterprises in the country to be made aware of the various supporting services that companies such as Frontken provide.