Malaysia stakes claim to become semiconductor superpower by luring $100B investment from … somewhere

Malaysia intends to court RM500 billion ($107 billion) worth of semiconductor industry investment, according to prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. Speaking at a conference [YouTube video – English-language portion of Anwar's speech begins at 15:47] in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the government head expressed the desire for the country …

[BOFH in Training]

Isn't this the same Anwar

who ordered the government not to entertain any enquiries from businesses in English?

https://www.pmo.gov.my/2023/10/govt-depts-reminded-not-to-entertain-letters-written-in-language-other-than-national-language/

That link is from Anwar's (Prime Minister's office).

I think there is even some controversy over what language is used to teach Maths and Science (last I heard the government schools are only supposed to use the local Malay language and not English).

And sure this will work out well when asking for international investments where you need to know alot of science / technical matters. /s

[Altrux]

Re: Isn't this the same Anwar

Interesting - it was many years ago that they decided to teach Maths and Science in English, then they went back to Malay. But when you go there, everyone under 50 (or even under 70) speaks English anyway, and for at least 40% of the population, Malay is effectively their third language (with mother tongue and English coming first and second). It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but there's a lot of potential if they get past the linguistic and religious hang-ups. Diversifying away from Taiwan (which is sadly under threat from the evil CCP, obviously) would be a positive step for everyone.

[quadibloc2]

Paradoxical

If they are going to be "neutral ground", where companies from China are free to come in, and have chips made for them based on the most advanced tech that Malaysia has... then, of course, that automatically means Malaysia will be subject to the same sanctions as China, and won't be able to get advanced chip fabrication equipment.

It's hard for me to believe that someone who has the responsibility of leading a nation can be ignorant of such a basic fact, so that this could be just a pie-in-the-sky promise meant to create some temporary enthusiasm, but not to be taken seriously... does seem like a possibility.