WD's Sarawak plant up for sale
Western Digital, the world's second largest hard disk drive manufacturer, is keen to sell its Sarawak plant in the Samajaya Jaya Free Industrial Zone (SJFIZ) to recover its losses due to the global economic meltdown, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said today.
Dr Chan, who met with senior officials from Western Digital here yesterday to discuss the company's future, said the company had already invested US$160 million (RM560 million) since they started 13 years ago.
"They (Western Digital) are already seeing a buyer, who is coming here, and will make a decision by the end of this month. Otherwise, they will lose a lot of money if they close down and do nothing about it," he told reporters after presenting fertilisers for hill padi cultivation to 2,017 farmers in Siburan, about 38km from here.
Asked if the prospective buyer was Hitachi, a Japanese multinational corporation which specialises in high technology and services, including hard disk drives, Chan declined to elaborate, adding: "That’s a trade secret".
Dr Chan, who is also State Industrial Development Minister, said the company, formerly known as Komag USA (M) Sdn Bhd, had confirmed that it would stick to its decision to cease the Sarawak operations and lay off all its 1,500 employees, including 500 engineers by March this year.
In the meeting, the employees' welfare, including retrenchment benefits and retraining of the retrenched workers, were discussed, he said.
Last month, Western Digital shocked the state authorities when it announced it would close the plant, which produced 30 million units of hard disk drives per quarter, as it was no longer economically viable due to the 50 percent drop in global demand.
Apart from the affected plant, the US-based company has three other facilities in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. — Bernama
Dr Chan, who met with senior officials from Western Digital here yesterday to discuss the company's future, said the company had already invested US$160 million (RM560 million) since they started 13 years ago.
"They (Western Digital) are already seeing a buyer, who is coming here, and will make a decision by the end of this month. Otherwise, they will lose a lot of money if they close down and do nothing about it," he told reporters after presenting fertilisers for hill padi cultivation to 2,017 farmers in Siburan, about 38km from here.
Asked if the prospective buyer was Hitachi, a Japanese multinational corporation which specialises in high technology and services, including hard disk drives, Chan declined to elaborate, adding: "That’s a trade secret".
Dr Chan, who is also State Industrial Development Minister, said the company, formerly known as Komag USA (M) Sdn Bhd, had confirmed that it would stick to its decision to cease the Sarawak operations and lay off all its 1,500 employees, including 500 engineers by March this year.
In the meeting, the employees' welfare, including retrenchment benefits and retraining of the retrenched workers, were discussed, he said.
Last month, Western Digital shocked the state authorities when it announced it would close the plant, which produced 30 million units of hard disk drives per quarter, as it was no longer economically viable due to the 50 percent drop in global demand.
Apart from the affected plant, the US-based company has three other facilities in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. — Bernama
