Malaysia aims to double market share of globalchip tradeby 2029

It wants to move up value chain, from assembly and testing to chip design

- Zunaira Saieed

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia, already a major player in the chip industry, is aiming high as it wants to move up the value chain into chip design and double its global market share of the overall semiconductor trade in five years, said a top government official at the state agency driving the country's hoped-for transition into a regional digital hub.

Becoming a "chip design powerhouse" could grow Malaysia's overall stake in the global semiconductor trade from 7 per cent currently to 14 per cent by 2029, Mr Yong Kai Ping, chief executive of the Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), told The Straits Times.

"We hope to double it by moving up the value chain, especially through (to) the front-end IC (integrated circuit) design work. Wherever the head goes, (the) tail will always follow as it is a cluster industry," he said.

Such ambitions may well be propelled by a recently proposed plan for an IC design park in Puchong  touted to be the largest in Southeast Asia and also by the US-China chip rivalry in recent years, which has led multinational corporations (MNCs) to restructure supply chains and relocate operations to countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and India, in a bid to reduce geopolitical risks.

On April 22, Prime Minister An war Ibrahim announced Malaysia's plans to build the massive IC design hub in Selangor, in efforts to move beyond production into high-value, front-end design work.