Kuala Lumpur – On Monday, the government announced that Malaysia will build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park. It will offer incentives such as tax rebates, subsidies, and visa exemption costs to entice global IT companies and investors.
Malaysia aims to transform Kuala Lumpur into a regional digital powerhouse. Additionally, it aims to rank among the top 20 countries in the global startup ecosystem index by 2030.
According to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the proposed integrated circuit design park represents a step in Malaysia’s efforts. It aims to transition the country’s focus from high-value front-end design work to backend chip assembly and testing.
With 13% of the world’s testing and packaging done there, the nation is a significant participant in the semiconductor business.
Anwar stated, without providing additional details, that the park in Malaysia’s Selangor state, supported by the central government, will host elite anchor tenants. It will also collaborate with multinational corporations like British chipmaker Arm Holdings (O9Ty.F).
During the KL20 Summit event, Anwar announced that Malaysia’s sovereign wealth, Khazanah Nasional, will establish a fund to invest in creative, fast-growing Malaysian businesses. The initial commitment of 1 billion ringgit ($209 million) aims to pave the way for introducing new laws to encourage Malaysian start-ups.
For foreign venture capital firms, tech entrepreneurs, and unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion) who are interested in investing in Malaysia, the government will provide incentives such as reduced corporate tax rates, relocation services, employment pass exemptions, and subsidized office spaces, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
“We want to attract global unicorns to enter Malaysia, so that high-skilled and high-value jobs are created, besides developing a pipeline of future entrepreneurs and senior leaders in tech,” Rafizi said.
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