GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA: US chipmaker Intel Corporation plans to close two of its three factories in Bayan Lepas.

Its Penang corporate affairs manager Loo Cheng Cheng said the 1,000 employees affected by the closure would be offered comparable job positions at the company's four other plants, three of which are in Kulim.

She said Intel, which has been in Penang since 1972, carried out manufacturing, research and development, and other services at its six Malaysian plants and currently have about 10,000 employees.

'It is safe to say that the company has no plans to lay off workers now,' she said yesterday.

Loo said the PG6 and PG7 facilities were expected to close down by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Intel Corporation said the planned closure of the two facilities was part of the company's move to restructure some of its manufacturing operations and align its manufacturing capacity to current market conditions.

Besides the PG6 and PG7, Intel also plans to close one plant in Cavite in the Philippines and will halt production at Fab20, an older 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, in the United States.

'Additionally, wafer product operations will end at the D2 facility in Santa Clara, California,' Intel said in a news release yesterday.

It stated that the move, combined with associated support functions, would affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees worldwide.

'However, not all employees will leave Intel. Some may be offered positions at other facilities. The actions will take place between now and the end of 2009,' it added. -The Star

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government appreciated that no jobs would be lost with the closure of the PG6 and PG7 facilities.