A boost for Penang : B Braun to invest RM300m more in Penang plants

At a time when manufacturers in almost all sectors are cutting back due to the global slump, German healthcare group B Braun Medical Industries Sdn Bhd (BMI) is bucking the trend. Yesterday, it announced a RM300 million plant expansion plan in Penang to be undertaken over three years.

BMI chairman Dr LG Braun said the additional investment was aimed at meeting demand from the growing healthcare market, in line with its multi-faceted growth master plan over the next 15 to 20 years.

For the expansion project, BMI, which currently has six plants in Penang, acquired a 9,000 sq metre site from the state government fronting one of its facilities in Lebuh Sungai Tiram in Bayan Lepas.

Since the company came to Penang 37 years ago, it has invested over RM1 billion here and created 4,700 jobs. Today, the firm's Penang operation is one of BMI's largest manufacturing sites ouside Europe.

The Penang operations boast production plants for medical devices such as injection needles, shielded intravenous catheters, surgical blades and instruments, sutures, intravenous solutions and administration sets.

Braun said the company, being in the resilient healthcare sector, was relatively shielded from the global financial crisis.