Qimonda, the memory chip unit of German semi-conductors giant Infineon, said Thursday it planned to boost production capacity in Asia by investing RM1.85 billion in Malaysia and China.

Qimonda said in a statement that it would build a new DRAM module manufacturing facility in Johor for a total RM700 million over the next five years.

Construction would begin in mid-2007, with production expected to start in 2008.

The site will employ a workforce of 3,000.

At the same time, Qimonda said it would invest RM1.15 billion in expanding its existing facility for the assembly and testing of memory chips in Suzhou, China, west of Shanghai.