- 3- step plan backed by US$ 5.3bil in governmental support and qualified opportunities
- Walk up , into higher- finish manufacturing, style, packaging, and equipment
The Malaysian government today unveiled its comprehensive three-phase plan, supported by US$ 5.3 billion ( RMRM25 billion ) in fiscal support and targeted incentives, in an ambitious move to advance the nation’s position as a leader in the semiconductor industry over the next ten years.  ,
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim unveiled the action at the SEMICON SEA 2024 meeting in Kuala Lumpur now, laying out Malaysia’s intentions to strengthen its position as a leading global hotspot for semiconductor manufacturing and development while aiming to establish a solid foundation for chip style.
Anwar’s news comes in the wake of Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of Sought Korea, who last week described the world’s semiconductor market as an “all-out war” to capture the fruits of what is expected to be a US$ 1 trillion marketplace by 2030.
US$ 19 billion ( RM89.2 billion ) support package with 70 % focused on helping homegrown SMEs in the semiconductor supply and value chain.
Anwar emphasized the crucial role of a tenacious and developed global semiconductor supply chain while recognizing Malaysia’s solid foundations as the country’s 6th-largest exporter and 10th-largest consumer of electrical and electronics goods.  ,
Highlighting its outsourced semiconductor assembly and test ( OSAT ) specialization, Anwar also spelled out Malaysia’s intentions to move up the value chain into higher- end manufacturing, design, packaging, and equipment.
” The NSS is a strong, agile, equitable, and forwards- considering strategy designed to foster collaboration with companies across ASEAN, Asia, and the world stage”, Anwar proclaimed. A robust multinational semiconductor production is still necessary for humanity, despite geopolitical dynamics, especially as our time is running out in our efforts to combat climate change and mitigate risk.
Reflecting Malaysia’s increasing strategic position, Penang, Asia’s Silicon Island, attracted a record RM61 billion  , in semiconductor FDI last year- exceeding its combined FDI of the previous seven years. This includes Intel’s RM30 billion investment in a new fabrication facility.
]RM1 = US$ 0.212]
Anwar reaffirmed that while proud of our OSAT accomplishments, we have strong potential to expand further into the value chain, underlining the NSS’s strategy to foster an ecosystem supported by dynamic Malaysian businesses and world-class talent working with global industry leaders.
The ambitious NSS was created as a result of a collaboration between the Ministry of International Trade and Industry ( MITI), its agencies, and a number of other ministries. It has been organized into a three-phase plan. Phase 1 focuses on” Building on Our Foundations” by leveraging Malaysia’s existing industry capacity and capabilities.  ,
This includes modernizing OSAT services with advanced packaging, expanding trailing- edge chip fabrication and power chip production, and developing local chip design champions. Phase 2, dubbed” Moving to the Frontier”, will pursue cutting- edge logic and memory chip design, fabrication, testing, and integration with major chip buyers.  ,
Anwar expressed confidence that Phase 1’s successful implementation will encourage the best-known advanced chip manufacturers to start operations in Malaysia. The third and final phase,” Innovating at the Frontier”, aims to develop world- class Malaysian semiconductor design, advanced packaging, and manufacturing equipment firms while attracting cutting- edge technology giants like Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo to pursue advanced manufacturing in the country.
Five overarching goals that the Malaysian government has set serve as foundation for the NSS:
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Secure at least RM500 billion in investments for Phase 1, driven by domestic direct investments in IC design, advanced packaging, and manufacturing equipment, coupled with foreign direct investments in wafer fabs and semiconductor equipment.
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Establish at least 10 Malaysian businesses in the advanced packaging and design industries, each with a revenue range of RM1 billion to RM4.7 billion by Phase 2. There are envisioned a further 100 local businesses that are related to semiconductors and have revenues in excess of RM1 billion.
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Position Malaysia as a globally- recognized R&, D hub for semiconductors, bolstered by world- class universities, corporate research centers, and centers of excellence that blend top Malaysian and international talent.
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In the next five to ten years, train and advance a highly skilled semiconductor workforce that includes 60, 000 Malaysian engineers.
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To ensure the NSS’s successful operation, allocate no less than RM25 billion in fiscal support and targeted incentives.
Overall, the NSS is spearheaded by the National Semiconductor Strategic Task Force ( NSSTF ) under MITI’s oversight, with CREST serving as the strategy’s secretariat. While maintaining Malaysia’s core aspiration, which is” a major global player in accessible technology for everyone, powered by our semiconductor industry,” Anwar emphasized that the NSS will continue to be a “living document” that constantly evolves in response to changing industry and market conditions.
Malaysia’s positioning as a neutral, non-aligned territory that can support a distributed and diversified semiconductor supply chain helps to mitigate geopolitical risks and vulnerabilities, underpin the national strategy. Anwar emphasized Malaysia’s willingness to cooperate and make investments from all over the world in order to advance this crucial industry as a whole.
” Today, I offer our nation as the most neutral and non- aligned location for semiconductor production, to help build a more secure and resilient global semiconductor supply chain”, he declared, calling for support from industry stakeholders within Malaysia and internationally.