Cochlear Limited, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, has today announced the expansion of its global manufacturing facility in Kuala Lumpur.
The new expansion involves an investment of more than RM30 million to support the company’s growing demand for cochlear and acoustic hearing implants in Malaysia as well as in more than 180 other countries around the world. For the last six years, Cochlear’s site in the country has created more than 270 new job opportunities.
Dig Howitt, CEO and President of Cochlear said, “This expansion is key to our mission to help hundreds of thousands of people around the world to hear. In addition to increasing our ability to make more sound processors, the new Global Distribution Centre supports efficiencies in transporting goods, and sustainability benefits by reducing the air miles travelled between us and our suppliers. We’re very grateful for the strong support and partnership from MIDA, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health (MOH) and Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI) that has allowed us to grow in Malaysia, making Kuala Lumpur our third largest site in the Cochlear network.”
The new expanded site will manufacture and maintain Cochlear’s latest and most advanced cochlear and acoustic implant sound processors. With over 300 employees, the facility which spans the area of 50,000 square feet will include the company’s global logistics, supply chain, and information technology services. As part of Cochlear’s global target to achieve net zero carbon emissions in its operations by 2030, the manufacturing site is also powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. The initiative is aligned with the country’s vision of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Adding on to this, Malaysia’s site is one of the company’s eight global operations to oversee the design, development, manufacture, and supply of the Australian-headquartered company.
In the 2021-22 fiscal year, Cochlear provided more than 40,000 hearing implants to adults and children around the world. The number of children in Malaysia who could benefit from a hearing implant may be set to rise. By 2024, the Government of Malaysia aims to implement universal newborn hearing screening in 95 percent of public and private hospitals to identify children and determine who could benefit from an assistive hearing device. Currently, only 65 percent of hospitals in Malaysia offer this service.
In Malaysia, approximately 1,500 children are born with hearing loss every year on average. By expanding the newborn hearing screening programme, thousands more children in Malaysia could gain the opportunity to hear and reach their full potential which enables the parents to receive the necessary support and advice needed right from the start.
