At the opening of regional business service centre of Edwards Lifesciences, Dr Ong said Invest KL and Malaysian Investment Development Authority are embarking on work to attract foreign investments and support local and foreign enterprise to set up offices in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and other places in Malaysia.

He said the setting up of regional centres by international enterprises in Malaysia help to establish the image of Malaysia as emerging business hubs in the region. It also assists development of industrial 4.0 in Malaysia. 

“An open and transparent bilateral dialogue between the government and enterprises will attract more international corporations to be here,’’ he said. 

Edwards Lifesciences corporate vice president Japan, Asia and the Pacific, Dr Huimin Wang said the company will be injecting RM100 million (US$24.10 million) to develop its regional business service centre in the next five years offering supporting services in financial, information technology, supply chain, human resources, digital health, marketing and quality assurance management. 

The business service centre sets up an outstanding analysis centre to attract talents in artificial intelligence, data management, big data analysis and related field to join the centre and assist patients with structural heart disease as well as support the business development in Japan and Asia Pacific. 

“We are hiring more than 120 local experts to fill relevant positions in the nex three years. This year we plan to recruit 60 new staff to take on corporate services roles and business leadership positions,’’ he said. 

United States Ambassador to Malaysia, Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir said for a long time US companies recognise the strong economy and talent pool in Malaysia and the criteria offer the companies investment opportunities and employment growth. 

“These companies are fulfilling corporate social responsibilities by enhancing ties between Malaysia and US,’’ she said. 

Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. Driven by a passion to help patients, the company partners with clinicians to develop innovative technologies in the areas of structural heart disease and critical care monitoring that enable them to save and enhance lives.