April 23, 2024 — Malaysia recently announced that it will build the largest integrated circuit design park in Southeast Asia and will provide a number of incentives such as tax cuts, subsidies and free work visas to attract global technology companies and investors.
The Malaysian government plans to build the country into a digital industry center in Southeast Asia, with the goal of becoming one of the top 20 countries in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index by 2030 at the latest.
Malaysia is now an important participant in the global semiconductor industry, accounting for approximately 13% of the world’s packaging and testing capacity. However, Malaysia has stated that it will strive to shift from back-end industries such as packaging and testing to high-value front-end industries such as design.
In addition, the Malaysian government will provide incentives such as office space subsidies, employment pass fee exemptions, relocation services and preferential corporate tax rates to attract foreign venture capital companies, technology entrepreneurs and unicorn companies to invest.