From left: Crest Group independent non-executive director Moo Eng Thing, independent non-executive director Teo Yeling, executive director Yap Kian Meng, chairman Ahmad Tajudin Omar, executive director and group managing director Lim Siong Wai, executive director Ethan Au, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd CEO Datuk Dominic Silva, deputy CEO Datuk Seri Diraja Nur Julie Gwee Ariff and Crest Group independent non-executive director Ilham Fadilah Sunhaji.
KUALA LUMPUR: Crest Group Bhd, a newly listed imaging firm on the ACE Market, is urging the government to invest further in talent development within the local semiconductor industry in light of the shortage of talent.
Crest Group executive director Ethan Au explained that the semiconductor industry’s projected growth is expected to reach about RM1 trillion by 2030, driven by the rising global demand for chips.
He suggested that the government allow temporary employment passes to bring in skilled talent from abroad as an option to “fill in the gaps”.
“We also hope the government will invest more in academia and technical vocational education and training to produce more science graduates because this is important.”
The call-for-action was made as the nation anticipates the Budget 2025 presentation next week, on Oct 18, 2024.
Supporting Au’s point, Crest Group managing director and executive director Lim Siong Wai said investment in talent development, coupled with education investment and emphasis on technical aspects in terms of chip designing, will propel Malaysia’s advancement to the forefront of the industry value chain.
“I believe it is good if the government continues to place more focus and expand in those areas so that we can go up to the higher end of the value chain,” he said.
Additionally, he also expressed hope to see the improvement and expansion of current initiatives introduced by the government, such as the National Semiconductor Strategy, to attract even more foreign investors to Malaysia.
Crest Group shares opened at 39.5 sen, a premium of 4.5 sen over its initial public offering price of 35 sen.
Prior to its market debut, the group saw an oversubscription of 73.88 times through an issuance of 130.7 million new ordinary shares. The group successfully raised RM45.75mil in proceeds.
From the proceeds, Crest Group will be allocating RM15.76mil towards establishing new centralised headquarters; RM14.52mil for business expansion and RM5.87mil to acquire additional demonstration equipment.
The remainder of the proceeds will be set aside to expand its technical support and maintenance team, as well as listing expenses at RM3.6mil and RM6mil, respectively.
At 5pm, Crest Group was unchanged at 35 sen with 114.82 million shares being traded.
