KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – 2018/01/24: A foreigner is seen with a Malaysia flag as a background. Kuala Lumpur or generally often known as KL is the nationwide capital for Malaysia and is the quickest rising metropolitan areas in South-East Asia. The city metropolis can be well-known to the world for tourism and procuring. Kuala Lumpur has a terrific public transportation for folks journey across the metropolis. (Picture by Faris Hadziq/SOPA Photographs/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs)
Faris Hadziq | Sopa Photographs | Lightrocket | Getty Photographs
Malaysia is not fazed about competitors from China or the U.S. because it pushes into higher-end semiconductor manufacturing, in accordance with the nation’s second finance minister.
“The semiconductor house is now within the upcycle — and Malaysia can be a beneficiary of that,” Amir Hamzah Azizan advised CNBC’s Karen Tso on the IMF spring conferences in Washington on Wednesday.
He additionally famous the nation would not see China — which is Malaysia’s largest buying and selling accomplice right this moment — as a rival within the sector.
“I feel the fact of all of it is, there’s sufficient development that may go round. So, everyone will get some pickups on that one,” he stated.
If something, Amir Hamzah defined, the latest geopolitical tensions have proven it’s essential for provide chains to stay strong.
“We’re seeing a whole lot of finish customers now diversifying their provide chain. Our focus, truly, is to offer a really vibrant, robust provide chain connectivity, and make it possible for we journey on that.”
Competing with U.S.
Malaysia seems to be benefitting from U.S.-China commerce tensions, which has prompted firms to diversify their semiconductor operations. The nation is now centered on shifting away from the again finish of the chip provide chain manufacturing and shifting up the worth chain.
The nation holds 13% of the worldwide marketplace for chip packaging, meeting and testing companies, the Malaysian Funding Improvement Authority stated in a Feb. 18 report. The federal government can be boosting efforts to develop its semiconductor ecosystem and entice investments.
Whereas the U.S. is ramping up investments in chips, Amir Hamzah highlighted Malaysia presents a unique worth proposition.
“I feel the place Malaysia competes in, we’re not going to go head on to the tail finish of the high-end competitors, the place possibly the U.S. is bringing all of the components,” he stated, including “due to this fact, I do not assume it is a huge problem for us.”
The nation is specializing in “extending their worth chain” to draw new companies and strengthen its place within the house, he stated. “On the finish of the day,” the minister added, its “about economies of scale.”
