KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the recent report by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) on Malaysia’s growth underscores its potential to become a high-income nation by 2030, driven by significant foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows.

He said plans are in place to enhance the country's electrical and electronics (E&E) ecosystem, improve business conditions, and prepare for global minimum tax implementation in 2025.

He said Malaysia is dedicated to attracting high-technology companies and encouraging value chain advancement within existing industries.

"Efforts are also ongoing to boost the semiconductor ecosystem through the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030, which includes attracting wafer fabs and advancing packaging, assembly, and testing capacities to reinforce Malaysia's global industry position," he said in a reply to a post on X here on Sunday.

Tengku Zafrul was replying to a post by a local financial media quoting Amro on the Malaysian economy and the year-end peak of the semiconductor upcycle.

According to Amro, Malaysia's gross domestic product is expected to grow by 5% this year  2024, outpacing Asean’s average of 4.8%.

Amro also said that economic growth in the regional bloc is expected to improve, premised on higher exports, on the back of the semiconductor upcycle, continued strength in the US goods consumption, and robust demand for travel and services.  

Apart from that, Tengku Zafrul said that Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi) has reported a global semiconductor manufacturing industry recovery, with increasing electronics and integrated circuits sales. 

He said that Malaysia’s semiconductor sector  is also poised for significant growth in the latter half of 2024, bolstered by a World Semiconductor Trade Statistics prediction of a 13.1% market rebound.

"Malaysia achieved a historic high in approved investments of RM329.5 billion in 2023, a 23% increase from the previous year, with foreign investments constituting 57.2% of the total (approved investments)," said Tengku Zafrul.  

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