Malaysia: KatanTech to make northern region its hub

LOGO-KATANTECHKATANTECH Malaysia Sdn Bhd aims to make the Northern Corridor Economic Region its regional hub and centre of excellence for biosecurity products with the scaling up of its plant in Penang.

Its chief executive officer Diwa Ratnam said it is in the process of getting the halal certification from the Islamic Religious Department for its products.

“Malaysia’s halal certification is recognised worldwide. We want to grab this opportunity to penetrate the Middle East in the future,” he said on the sidelines of the BioMalaysia and Bioeconomy Asia Pacific 2014 conference, here, recently.

“We chose to invest in the Northern Corridor because of its importance in the agriculture sector, especially biosecurity.”

Its plant is located in the Northern Corridor Biotech Centre in Bukit Minyak, Penang.

The United States-based company has business operations in North America, Latin America and the Asia Pacific.

Its investment in the country marked its maiden foray in the Asean region.

“We are here two years ahead of schedule because of the availability of great resources and incentives. This is going to be the hub for our Asean expansion,” said Diwa.

The company plans to spread its wings to Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines starting this month.

KatanTech will be working closely with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute as well as the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority in developing its products in Malaysia.

“The work we have done in Colombia and the work we will do here is going to serve as the global standard for biosecurity, agriculture and other fields as well.

“Unlike our competitors, KatanTech’s products are water-based, which kill 99.9 per cent of germs and are non-mutagenic, and thus do not create superbugs,” he added.

KatanTech produces and markets the Aplaus, Biospada and Nanospada range of products for retail, commercial and agricultural applications.

Its products are eco-friendly and easy to incorporate in a wide variety of processes. They protect surfaces against almost all forms of algae, bacteria, fungi, germs, mildew, mould and viruses.