KUALA LUMPUR - A South American metal producer will invest 9 billion ringgit ($3.7 billion) in Malaysia and build an iron ore plant, a government official in the Southeast Asian country was reported on Thursday as saying.

The investment will be made over 10 years and the 530-hectare plant in northern Perak state will create about 2,000 jobs, Perak chief minister Zambry Abdul Kadir was quoted as saying by New Straits Times.

He did not name the company.