KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Selangor’s “30 per cent local content” policy will be crucial to ensure small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups benefit directly from the state’s rising foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in high-growth sectors like data centres, automotive, and aerospace.
Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) chief executive officer Yong Kai Ping said the policy allows local businesses to participate meaningfully in global supply chains, rather than being sidelined by multinational investors.
“Our focus is to implement the local content policy so local SMEs and startups get more business opportunities to collaborate with global investors.
“It will create a homegrown market, especially in hardware, where opportunities in data centres, automotive, and aerospace engineering will grow significantly under the 30 per cent local content policy,” he told Media Selangor after the launch of the Exclusive Sidec CXO Club 2025 at Menara Affin here today.
A local content policy is a government measure that requires or encourages companies, especially foreign investors, to use domestically produced goods, services, and labour in their operations, thereby embedding them into the national economy.
Yong said empowering local companies to meet global standards remains a challenge, with the two main hurdles being limited access to investment capital and a shortage of skilled talent in hi-tech and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
In this regard, he stressed the importance of supporting local businesses to compete globally.
“We must empower local providers with the right technology and talent to meet global requirements.
“The challenge now is twofold. First, to provide enough investment capital, whether through venture capital, private equity, equity crowdfunding, or financial institutions, and second, to build a strong talent pipeline,” he said.
Yong added that hi-tech industries are both capital- and talent-intensive, requiring a substantial pool of workers trained in the mechanical, electrical, STEM, and artificial intelligence (AI) fields.
However, despite strong industry demand, he said engineering programmes are declining in popularity among students, creating a worrying gap in future workforce readiness.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough talent in these sectors. One of the challenges is that engineering courses are becoming less popular in universities because they are harder to study compared to the rest.”
Yong said bridging this gap is urgent and necessary if Selangor wants to fully capture opportunities from FDI inflows and build globally competitive industries.
