KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) has until the end of May this year to prepare a comprehensive Strategic Semiconductor Masterplan that will ensure Malaysia’s relevance while also progressing up the global supply chain.
Its minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz (pix), said the National Investment Council, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had pushed for a high-level plan for the semiconductor industry, which is deemed a critical as well as strategic industry for the country’s economy.
“The prime minister has asked MITI to work closely with other ministries, especially the Ministry of Finance, to develop a comprehensive plan under which Malaysia will play a prominent role in the global space.
“It (the strategic plan) covers every aspect of the ecosystem, which includes infrastructure, talent force and incentives,” he said during the question and answer session following the presentation of MITI’s first quarter report card here, today.
Moreover, the minister stated that significant economies, such as the European Union and the United States, have introduced their legislation and strategies to encourage investments in the semiconductor sector; therefore, Malaysia must develop a concrete and strategic plan to promote its semiconductor industry and players.
“Despite the short timeline provided, we will seek input from all stakeholders. We talked to industry stakeholders to brief the task force on their perspectives on our sector and what they believe is relevant to include in the plan.
“We will continue to involve all parties. We’re having discussions every day about it, and we’re hoping to come up with a strategy that will make Malaysia highly competitive in the area,” Tengku Zafrul added.
Malaysia has been a prominent player in the global semiconductor value chain for the past 50 years, Malaysia accounted for an estimated 13 per cent of global back-end manufacturing and 23 per cent of US semiconductor trade in 2022.
Anwar previously announced plans to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit (IC) design park, which will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as British chipmaker Arm Holdings.
