KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Malaysia will be able to move up the value chain and simultaneously break free from chains of the middle-income trap if Malaysia’s industries, including agriculture, manufacturing and healthcare start exploring the realms of frontier science and technology.
However, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli emphasised that this strategic shift would need key reforms to spur the ecosystem and create opportunities, and this is where the launch of the Kuala Lumpur 20 (KL20) blueprint on April 22-23 would be a step in the right direction.
In November last year, the minister said the government plans to establish Malaysia as a regional hub for AI, aside from creating an ecosystem for startup companies that are interested in the technology which will be announced in the KL20 blueprint
Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the Second China-Malaysia Science and Technology Innovation Summit: ‘Fostering Collaborative Innovation, Building the Future Together’ today, Rafizi highlighted that Malaysia presents an ideal testing ground for high-end Chinese technology.
“Malaysia is an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing (OSAT) powerhouse, with about 13 per cent global market share.
“With such a wide, backend base, Malaysia is the ideal test bed for high-end Chinese technology. It is an industry poised for commercial expansion in the form of advancements in integrated circuit design,” he added.
— Bernama
