Author: Danial Azhar
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia is looking to use its location to become an energy and chip manufacturing hub this year, thanks to a recent surge in investment and a favorable outlook for the domestic economy, its prime minister and economy minister said on Thursday.
Malaysia is fast becoming a haven in Southeast Asia, with foreign investors returning as improving growth and a stable currency set it apart from other countries struggling with political change and economic uncertainty.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia’s economy rebounded dramatically last year, fueled by an influx of strategic investments, most notably in renewable energy and artificial intelligence infrastructure. He added inflation and the ringgit was stable and the stock market is the best performer in the region.
“In 2025, we want to double our geographic central role, as a conduit for electricity, talent and supply chain diversification,” he said at the economic forum.
Anwar said Malaysia will now seek to enhance its expertise in oil and gas, semiconductors and Islamic finance to become a global market leader in each field.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said Malaysia wants to produce its own graphics processing chips as demand for artificial intelligence and data centers grows.
“We hope to be able to start producing GPUs and chips made in Malaysia in the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Malaysia, a major player in the semiconductor industry that accounts for 13% of global test and packaging, is targeting more than $100 billion in investment in the sector.
The Southeast Asian country is seen as well-positioned to attract more business as Chinese chipmakers diversify overseas for assembly purposes, and has attracted multibillion-dollar investments in recent years from leading companies including Intel ( NASDAQ: ) and Infineon ( OTC :).
Last year, Malaysia also received a flurry of digital investment from big tech companies, including Alphabet (NASDAQ: ) Google, which helped propel its economy with growth that beat market expectations in the second and third quarters, and the ringgit became one of the best in Asia in 2024.
