Story by Chan Lilian
Pix by Darwina Mohd. Daud
BOTH the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng have given a positive outlook for the electric and electronic (E&E) sector.
While Mida recommended local manufacturers to adopt and embrace smart and new technology in manufacturing to prepare for the “explosion’ of IOT (internet of things), Lim gave an equally bright future.
“Although the growth of the E&E industry was flat in the first quarter, we are hopeful of a promising second quarter with strong numbers especially in fibre optics. Penang is focussing on high quality investment as we have the cutting edge that you won’t find anywhere in the world except those at the industries headquarters of the E&E corporations from overseas,” Lim said at the Semicon Southeast Asia (SEA) 2016 which took place at SPICE Arena on April 26.
It is touted as the region’s biggest microelectronics event.
“I am impressed that this event has drawn a stronger participation with more than 7,500 expected visitors, a 15% increase from last year. Penang contributed nearly 20% to Malaysia’s overall FDI inflows in 2015, the highest among the Malaysian states. This is a 7% increase from the previous year’s inflows. Penang has remained the most vibrant destinations for the semiconductor industry in Malaysia and it plays a vital role in contributing to Malaysia’s E&E industry, which is one of the nation’s most thriving sectors,” Lim said in his speech.
He attributed Penang’s success to the grit and resilience of the people of Penang. “Thanks to the confidence from the industry players, we braved times of difficulty to achieve success. With over 40 years of industrial experience, Penang’s offering an established business ecosystem with a skilled labour force, intellectual property protection laws, good governance and clean leadership and a manufacturing supply chain that is well supported by more than 300 multinational corporations which includes Intel, ASE, Infineon, Linear, AMD, Seagate,” he added.
Looking into the future, Lim talked about convergence in the public manufacturing and services sector to enable Penang to partake in the fourth Industrial Revolution.
“The first1st Industrial Revolution happened with the invention of steam engines, the second with the discovery of electricity of mass production and specialisation of work, the third with the invention of computers and internet. Finally the fourth Industrial Revolution revolves around the Big Data Analytics (BDA), Cloud Computing and Internet of Things (IoT),” he said.
Mida chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud delivered a speech on behalf of Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry.
“According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (or PwC), the global semiconductor market is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) around 5.2% from 2015 to 2019. Recognising the growth prospects of the E&E industry particularly the semiconductor segment, the government is strengthening the development of this industry through its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The E&E industry is expected to create an incremental GNI impact of RM53.4 billion and 157,000 new jobs by 2020,” he said.
“To date, total realised investments of the E&E industry amounts to RM182 billion, where 85% of these are contributed by foreign sources. More than 780,000 people have benefitted from these projects through employment. We are proud that six out of the 10 largest semiconductor companies in the world have established their presence in Malaysia,” he added.
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