Malaysia to offer incentives to attract global tech firms as it eyes regional digital hub status

It plans to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park that is part of its efforts to move beyond chip assembly and into high-value work

Malaysia aims to turn Kuala Lumpur into a regional digital hub, and to be among the top 20 countries in the global start-up ecosystem index by 2030

Reading Time:2 minutes

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s prime minister, speaks at the KL20 Tech Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Anwar said the proposed integrated circuit design park was part of Malaysia’s efforts to move beyond backend chip assembly and testing and into high-value frontend design work. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:27pm, 22 Apr 2024

Malaysia plans to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park and will offer incentives including tax breaks, subsidies and visa exemption fees to attract global tech companies and investors, the government said on Monday.

Malaysia is aiming to turn Kuala Lumpur into a regional digital hub, with the goal of being among the top 20 countries in the global start-up ecosystem index by 2030.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the proposed integrated circuit design park was part of Malaysia’s efforts to move beyond backend chip assembly and testing and into high-value frontend design work.

The country is a major player in the semiconductor industry, accounting for about 13 per cent of global testing and packaging.

The Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. Malaysia aims to turn Kuala Lumpur into a regional digital hub. Photo: Bloomberg

The park, to be backed by Malaysia’s central Selangor state, will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as British chip maker Arm Holdings, Anwar said, without providing further details.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x