KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia plans to build Southeast
Asia's largest integrated circuit design park and will offer
incentives including tax breaks, subsidies and visa exemption fees
to attract global tech companies and investors, the government said
on Monday.
Malaysia is aiming to turn Kuala Lumpur into a regional digital hub,
with the goal of being among the top 20 countries in the global
startup ecosystem index by 2030.
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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the proposed integrated circuit
design park was part of Malaysia's efforts to move beyond backend
chip assembly and testing and into high-value front-end design work.
The country is a major player in the semiconductor industry,
accounting for about 13% of global testing and packaging.
The park, to be backed by Malaysia's central Selangor state, will
house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global
companies such as British chipmaker Arm Holdings
(O9Ty.F), opens new tab, Anwar said, without providing further details.
Malaysia's sovereign wealth Khazanah Nasional will also launch a
fund to invest in innovative high-growth Malaysian companies, with
an initial allocation of 1 billion ringgit ($209 million), Anwar
told the KL20 Summit event, aimed at launching new policies to
support Malaysian start-ups.
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Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the government will offer
incentives including subsidised office spaces, exemptions on
employment passes, relocation services and lower corporate tax rates
for foreign venture capital firms, tech entrepreneurs and unicorns -
startups reaching a $1 billion valuation - looking to invest in
Malaysia.
"We want to attract global unicorns to enter Malaysia, so that
high-skilled and high-value jobs are created, besides developing a
pipeline of future entrepreneurs and senior leaders in tech," Rafizi
said.
($1 = 4.7820 ringgit)
Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Danial Azhar; Editing by John
Mair
