KOTA KINABALU: The construction of SK Nexilis’ copper foil factory at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) here is underway after a land lease agreement was signed.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam who paid a working visit to see the work progress yesterday said SK Nexilis had made an investment of RM4.2 billion.

It would create more than 400 jobs and 80 per cent of the workforce were slotted for locals. Dr Joachim, who is also the state industrial development minister said the factory’s operations were scheduled to commence in 2023.

SK Nexilis chief executive officer Shin Dong Hwan said the factory required about 20 engineers to work in the plant when the operation starts.

KKIP Sdn Bhd had signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s SK Nexilis (M) Sdn Bhd to implement the copper foil factory on March 23, this year.

The signing ceremony then was witnessed by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and later followed by a land lease signing agreement in July.

The new copper foil manufacturing facility at KKIP will have an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes, which will increase its current global capacity to about 100,000 tonnes.

SK Nexilis is reputedly the world’s foremost leader in the technology of manufacturing copper foil for batteries. – NST ONLINE

by Paul Mu