Malaysia plans to establish itself as Southeast Asia’s leading technology and trade hub.
A program to attract start-up unicorns and venture capitalist (VC). Malaysia has launched a program called Golden Pass in a bid to establish the country as a trade hub of Southeast Asia and create high-skilled jobs.
The local government has also introduced the Innovation Pass and the Innovation Belt to broaden the pool of professionals and the GPU Scheme for emerging businesses focused on artificial intelligence. Malaysian Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli explained that the measures came into force with immediate effect.
But what does all this mean? And why should anyone who lives on the other side of the world care? Malaysia is a candidate to become one of the next economic centers on the planet, and it is therefore essential to understand what its next steps will be within the global economy.
Kuala Lumpur has started to offer multiple advantages to all unicorns (private start-ups valued at least one billion dollars) and to venture capital companies that intend to establish their activities in the country. The Malaysian government will offer concessions, including tax exemptions for executives, rent subsidies and tax breaks, according to Nikkei Asia.
The plan is open only to companies with over 100 million dollars in revenues and a "solid experience of investing in successful technology start-ups". “We are offering a number of incentives, including opportunities to access limited partner (LP) financing, subsidized office space, accelerated license registrations and work permit fee waivers,” Rafizi said.
The Malaysian plan
Rafizi said that with these programs the government intends to transform Malaysia into the main hub of technology companies in Southeast Asia. In his keynote speech during the recent KL20 Summit, held in Kuala Lumpur, the minister himself explained that the programs also aim to develop a future generation of local entrepreneurs.
“With the right investors and the right talent in Malaysia, we will make our country the Southeast Asia base for global technology companies under the Unicorn Golden Pass. We want to attract global unicorns and bring them into Malaysia to create high-skilled, high-value jobs, as well as develop a pipeline of future entrepreneurs and senior leaders in the technology sector,” Rafizi said.
The minister also said that the big ambition is to make Malaysia one of the top 20 start-up ecosystems in the world. The ambition is for Malaysia to become the preferred destination for early-stage growth; the center for world-class entrepreneurs and skilled talent, and the home for the world’s leading startups that want to start, grow, and scale.
Focus on technology
Alongside incentives for VCs and unicorn start-ups, the Malaysian government has also launched programs to create a semiconductor ecosystem within the country. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also intends to set up chip plants near Kuala Lumpur.
Specifically, local journalistic sources explain, that Anwar announced the creation of a hub for the design of integrated chips near the country’s capital. The companies set to locate there are Phison Electronics new venture MaiStorage , ARM Holdings, Malaysian chip design solutions company SkyeChip and Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association.
In the last few hours, meanwhile, Microsoft has announced that it will invest 2.2 billion dollars in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in Malaysia to support the country’s digital transformation. For the record, consultancy firm Kearney has estimated that artificial intelligence could contribute nearly $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product between now and 2030.
The digital economy, Reuters pointed out, is one of the fastest growing sectors in Malaysia, receiving as much as $15.7 billion in investments in the third quarter of 2022 alone. The foundations of this growth were thrown into 2021 with the unveiling of the National Digital Economy Blueprint and the establishment of the Digital Investment Office, tasked with paving the way for more investment in this space.
Kuala Lumpur wants to attract $16.1 billion in digital investment by 2025 and have the sector contribute more than 22.5% of GDP. The mission is arduous but not impossible.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2024-05-14 07:15:00. Original title: Start-up innovative, AI e semiconduttori: così la Malesia punta ad un futuro hi-tech
