Mida eyes RM13bil in approved investments for E&E industry in 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) expects approved investments worth RM13 billion for the electrical and electronics (E and E) industry in 2019, driven by the sector’s strong and vibrant ecosystem.  

In 2018, the E and E industry recorded RM11.2 billion in approved investments and provided 11,180 job opportunities.

Chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud said the presence of major multinational companies (MNCs) and Malaysian-owned companies contributes to the steady growth of the industry in Malaysia.

“However, that is subject to the global scenario. Hopefully, we won’t have any major setback in the global market,” he told reporters at the pre-event media briefing for SemiCon Southeast Asia 2019 here today.

Azman said MIDA is promoting the growth of local supply chains to support the growth of the automotive semiconductor market.

“To promote this, MIDA has adopted the ecosystem approach where we fill in the gaps in automotive semiconductors.

“For example, MIDA is aggressively promoting knowledge-intensive design activities under the E and E industry,” he said.

These activities include integrated circuit (IC) design, IC packaging design, embedded system design as well as test and engineering design services for E and E clusters.

Meanwhile, SEMI Southeast Asia Pte Ltd president Ng Kai Fai said globally, the semiconductor global market revenue would continue its healthy trajectory in the coming years amid a softening in 2019.

“This is given the rapid pace in the development of smart manufacturing, consumer technologies, autonomous vehicles, wireless communications and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled by the IoT (Internet of Things),” he said.

MIDA is partnering with SEMI to host SemiCon Southeast Asia 2019, to be held from May 7-9, 2019 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre. - Bernama