in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the government head expressed the desire for the country to build on its current strengths as a provider of outsourced assembly and testing services and move into high-end manufacturing semiconductor design, enhanced OSAT and advanced packaging, plus production of sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The prime minister envisioned those startups emerging as the result of a three-phase process. The first phase will leverage existing capacity to support modernizing OSAT, before moving toward advanced packaging, growing existing fabs, pursuing foreign investment to help expand local manufacturing capacity for old-school edge chips, and growing local design outfits.
The last phase sees domestic semiconductor design, manufacturing equipment and advanced packaging attracting buyers of advanced chips – such as Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo – to pursue sources of advanced manufacturing in Malaysia. Without directly mentioning conflict between China and the US, the prime minister suggested Malaysia is"offering itself as neutral ground that ensures all tech collaborations from the East and the West, North and the South."