U.S. chip giant Intel Corp. will invest $7 billion to expand its plants in Malaysia amid a global semiconductor shortage, Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger said Thursday.

Gelsinger, who is visiting Malaysia from Wednesday, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that his company will invest more than 30 billion ringgit over the next decade for expanding two assembly and test facilities, setting up a packaging plant and other projects in Malaysia.

Besides Malaysia, Intel, a top global chipmaker, is expected to announce by early next year an expansion of its plants in the United States and Europe, Gelsinger said, adding the semiconductor shortage is still quite significant.

"And if you think about the semiconductor industry that was growing at about 5 percent per year before COVID-19 in a $500 billion industry, COVID-19 disrupted the supply chains while demand exploded at 20 percent year-on-year as we are seeing this digitization of everything," he said.

Countries' measures to contain the COVID-19 have disrupted supply chains worldwide, leading to the semiconductor shortage, while demand for chips for computers and other electronic gadgets picked up on the back of the increased need for teleworking and online classes.

Malaysia has become a hub in the global supply chain of semiconductor as approximately 7 percent of the global total chip trade flows through the country, according to government statistics.

==Kyodo

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