The semiconductor giant Intel will invest more than $7 billion to build a new chip-packaging and testing factory in Malaysia, Pat Gelsinger, the Chief Executive said, expanding production in the country following a global shortage of semiconductors.

The packaging facility is expected to begin production in 2024, Pat said. The $7.10 billion (30 billion ringgit) investment is expected to create over 4,000 Intel jobs and more than 5,000 construction jobs in Malaysia. 

"This undertaking is indeed timely given the bullish global demand driven by the chip shortages and the potential challenges arising from the recovery of the pandemic globally," Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali said in a statement according to a report by Reuters. 

Malaysia's chip assembly industry, which accounts for more than a tenth of a global trade worth over $20 billion, has warned that shortages will last at least two years. Intel's Gelsinger said he expected the chip shortages to last into 2023.

In 1972, the semiconductor company opened its first production factory outside the United States in the Malaysian state of Penang. By 1975, 1,000 people became a part of the company's manufacturing chain.

Recently, the United States and Malaysia said they plan to sign an agreement by early next year to improve transparency, resilience and security in the supply chains in the semiconductor and manufacturing sector.