KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — An industry leader has hailed Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari as a forward-thinking leader for his role in advancing Selangor’s semiconductor industry.
Siemens Malaysia president and chief executive officer Tindaro Danze said the state government’s decision to move up the value chain by focusing on integrated circuit (IC) design is crucial to ensuring Selangor and Malaysia remain competitive and relevant in the global semiconductor ecosystem.
“I think it’s not only feasible (for Selangor to become one of the main hubs for global chip design), but also necessary. Otherwise, Selangor and Malaysia will remain at the back end of the value chain.
“I’m very pleased that (the state) is heading in this direction, because I believe this is necessary to keep Malaysia at the forefront of the industry.
“This way, you will have the more intelligent part of the value chain (be produced) locally, and this is where I think the menteri besar has a truly forward-thinking vision,” Danze told Media Selangor on the sidelines of the Selangor Techsphere Summit, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Tuesday and yesterday.
On November 6, the federal government, in collaboration with Selangor, launched the Semiconductor IC Design Park 2 in Cyberjaya, an initiative that Amirudin called a key milestone in the state’s mission to become the nation’s leading semiconductor hub and a global main player within the next five years.
The first park in Puchong, which was launched last year, is now home to 14 semiconductor firms and over 200 engineers, with the figure expected to double in coming months.
Danze said Selangor’s biggest challenge in becoming a leading global chipmaker is retaining talent, as many seek better opportunities outside of Malaysia.
“Once the people are trained, very often you have what is called brain drain. They will say ‘thank you very much (for the training)’ and off they go to Silicon Valley to make tonnes of money.
“That’s going to be the main challenge — retaining them. I leave it up to the menteri besar how to solve it, but it is certainly a challenge that he has to deal with one way or another,” he said.
Meanwhile, Danze said education, including upskilling and reskilling programmes, remains a key pillar in ensuring an industry-ready workforce.
He noted that many of Siemens Malaysia’s discussions with the Selangor government have centred on training and education, particularly on how the workforce adapts to new technologies.
Siemens Malaysia, he added, is collaborating with the state to bring education even further down the pipeline, to students at earlier stages of learning.
“We have been cooperating with institutions like universities... but our idea is to also bring technological education to schoolkids. We have done a couple of experiments where we held hackathons for those aged nine to 15. You can’t start early enough,” Danze said.
On Tuesday, when launching the Selangor Techsphere Summit, Amirudin said the state aims to instil interest in technical and vocational education (TVET) among school students by engaging secondary schools next year, expanding on Selangor’s ongoing efforts to upskill graduates and prepare a new generation of skilled talent.
