ECONOMY Minister Rafizi Ramli highlighted the potential for Malaysia to elevate its industries and escape the middle-income trap by embracing frontier science and technology, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare.
According to Bernama, Rafizi noted the necessity of key reforms to stimulate the ecosystem and generate opportunities during the second China-Malaysia Science and Technology Innovation Summit themed “Fostering Collaborative Innovation, Building the Future Together”.
He also mentioned the forthcoming launch of the Kuala Lumpur 20 (KL20) blueprint on April 22 and 23 as a positive step in this direction.
Last November, Rafizi revealed the government’s intention to position Malaysia as a regional hub for artificial intelligence and establish an ecosystem for startups interested in this technology. This initiative is expected to be detailed in the KL20 blueprint.
Rafizi underscored Malaysia’s potential as an ideal testing ground for advanced Chinese technology in the semiconductor assembly and testing sector, where the country holds approximately 13% of the global market share.
“Malaysia is an outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing powerhouse, with about 13% of the global market share.
“With such a wide backend base, Malaysia is the ideal test bed for high-end Chinese technology. It is an industry poised for commercial expansion in the form of advancements in integrated circuit design,” he added. – March 6, 2024
Main photo credit: XCLUSIF
