MALAYSIA: Malaysia plans to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park.
According to the government on Monday, this initiative is accompanied by incentives, including tax breaks, subsidies, and visa exemption fees, aimed at luring global tech giants and investors.
Reuters reported that Malaysia is set to make Kuala Lumpur a “regional digital hub” to secure a spot among the top 20 nations in the global startup ecosystem index by 2030.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim states that the planned integrated circuit design park represents Malaysia’s transition from backend chip assembly and testing to high-value front-end design work.
Malaysia already boasts a solid semiconductor industry presence, holding over roughly 13% of global testing and packaging.
Mr Anwar said the park, backed by Malaysia’s central Selangor state, aims to draw in tenants and forge partnerships with global players like British chipmaker Arm Holdings; however, details remain scant.
Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional, is primed to invest RM1 billion (approx. S$285 million) into a fund targeting innovative Malaysian startups.
Prime Minister Anwar laid out these plans at the KL20 Summit, an event dedicated to launching policies supporting Malaysian startups.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli added that the government plans to provide incentives such as subsidised office spaces, relocation assistance, exemptions on work permits, and reduced corporate tax rates for foreign venture capital firms, tech entrepreneurs, and unicorns—startups valued at $1 billion (approx. S$1.36 billion) or more—seeking to invest in Malaysia.
According to Mr Rafizi, “We want to attract global unicorns to enter Malaysia so that high-skilled and high-value jobs are created, besides developing a pipeline of future entrepreneurs and senior leaders in tech.” /TISG
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