THE report in June that Apple was mulling a 15-30% supply chain shift out of China and that Southeast Asia was aWhat could the Malaysian government do in order to pull some of these investments onto our shores?Which companies could be potential beneficiaries?The industry is facing a turning point in its development, and the US-China trade war has created a unique window of opportunity that can catalyse the development of the entire industry in Malaysia for decades to come.
Without the contribution of the E&E sector, Malaysia would have experienced the twin deficit phenomenon – a budget as well as a trade deficit and this would likely have had an effect on foreign investor confidence. The E&E and optical subsector is also the largest employer in the manufacturing sector, hiring approximately 562,000 workers of the 2.5 million manufacturing workforce in 2018.
This sector, more than any other sector in the country, is at the forefront of Industry 4.0 adoption including big data analytics, internet of things and systems integration. Some of the more well-known names include Vitrox, Inari Amerton, Pentamaster and the recently listed Greatech and TT Vision.