KUALA LUMPUR: The dynamic global economic landscape and rapid technological advancements require Malaysia to keep abreast of industrial developments, necessitating the formulation of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030).
The NIMP 2030 sets strategic initiatives designed to position Malaysia as a global leader in industrial development to elevate the manufacturing and manufacturing-related services sectors to greater heights.
This is geared towards capitalising emerging global trends such as artificial Intelligence (AI), advanced robotics and electric vehicles (EVs).
The plan identifies electrical and electronic (E&E) as one of the priority subsectors that can generate high economic and innovation knowledge spillovers.
The E&E subsector forms 40 per cent of the nation's exports of manufactured goods, particularly to Singapore, the US and China. Semiconductor industry constitute 60 per cent of total E&E exports, mostly from back-end activities.
With strong capabilities and rising global market trends on technological changes, Malaysia aims to move up to higher value-add segments and strengthen both the front and back-end semiconductor ecosystem.
The National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS) was announced in May 2024 as part of the NIMP 2030 with the aim of enhancing the country's role in the global semiconductor supply chain from design to production of high-value semiconductor products.
Measures taken include prioritising new investments in advanced wafer fabrication and integrated circuit design activities.
The extensive initiative of the NSS highlights the nation's strong commitment towards elevating the entire high- tech industry and enhancing workforce to greater heights as the strategy sets forth five headline targets including fiscal support, training, investment, company growth as well as research and development (R&D) hub.
The government and industry require strategic actions to advance Malaysia's semiconductor industry, such as fostering R&D collaboration, continuous technical skill learning programme, establishment of an advanced packaging technology centre and sustainable development.
Malaysia's semiconductor industry is at a transformative juncture, buoyed by strategic national initiatives and a forward-looking vision.
Supportive national policies, such as the Ekonomi Madani framework, which includes the implementation of the NIMP 2030 and NSS, underscoring the government's commitment to fortify the industry's global competitiveness and sustainability.
With all these policies and action plans in place, Malaysia is well-positioned to navigate through the complexities of the global semiconductor market, drive growth and set new benchmarks of excellence in the coming years.