he northern and southern ends of mainland, or peninsular, Malaysia are benefiting from substantial investment in industrial infrastructure.
   The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) encompasses the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and the north of Perak and is designed to bring economic prosperity to the north through the introduction of knowledge-based economic activity.
   Key to infrastructure development in the NCER is connectivity, both national and regional. The government's plans for the region include improved utilities infrastructure, the provision of targeted incentives to bring investors to the region and an organization dedicated to coordinating growth. Physical infrastructure projects that are part of the NCER include a second Pulau-Penang bridge, coastal highway additions and expansions, road and railway upgrades, and airport and seaport expansions.
   In the south, the Iskandar Development Region (IDR, above) is already home to five key industry clusters: electrical and electronics, petro and oleo chemical, food and agro processing, logistics and tourism. But the government is working to cultivate four new clusters: health services, education services, financial services and creative industries. Much of the IDR's advantage lies in its proximity to Singapore, providing potential investors there an alternative, lower-cost location with access to a range of highly developed port facilities.
   One company investing in both Singapore and Malaysia is Munich, Germany-based memory chip supplier Qimonda, carved out from Infineon Technologies (another prominent Malaysian investor) in 2006. In March 2007, it announced a $220-million, 3,000-employee investment in Johor, Malaysia, that will manufacture DRAM modules.
   "The new DRAM module facility is a key element of our efforts to optimize our supply chain," said Kin Wah Loh, president and CEO of Qimonda. "It will provide us with higher flexibility and efficiency in our back-end manufacturing. The new facility will be located close to Qimonda's global distribution center in Singapore to reduce inbound and outbound transit times and to achieve favorable lead times."
   The company already uses four sites for back-end manufacturing in Malacca, Malaysia; Porto, Portugal; Dresden, Germany; and Suzhou, China, where the company in 2007 announced two facility investments totaling $217 million.
   The front end, meanwhile, will receive a $2.9-billion investment in a new 300-mm. chip manufacturing facility in Singapore.
   "We are responding to the fast growing DRAM market and are moving closer to our customers in Asia," said Kin. "In addition, we can benefit from local competitive cost structures and manufacturing know-how and, finally, further reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations compared to the U.S. dollar."