- Lack of talent is a sticking issue in the semiconductor industry
- Countries are fighting back against the US
- China is predicted to invade Taiwan in 2027
IN Malaysia
Malaysia’s Silicon Valley – is it going to live up to the hype?
Despite successfully signing the deal with the British giant Arm, to create our own ‘Made In Malaysia’ chips before the end of the decade, experts and analysts do agree that this one challenge will impede our potential to be at par with other regional giants such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, and that one challenge is – lack of talents. Let’s walk through the comments from the market –
- Shafiq Kadir, equity analyst at CGS International – We lack an established pool of experienced engineers and our tertiary education is not focusing on preparing the graduates with the right skill set;
- Wong Siew Hai, Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association president – On average, we lose 15% of our talent in the semiconductor industry every year as the talents go abroad for better pay and opportunities;
The market obviously says that we do not produce enough talent for the industry and it may handicap our progress to become ASEAN’s South Korea. However, from the Government, it seems like all is good as Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah boasted to Dewan Negara that vocational colleges (KV) have produced 93,064 diploma graduates to date, exceeding the 90,000 target set under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Wong even added that the employability rate of KV diploma graduates has shown continuous growth — 99.16% in 2022, 99.38% in 2023, and 99.91% for the 2024 cohort. So, where do these talents go? Mimaland is it?
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/748412
Shorts
- Recently acquired by the Sarawak Government, Affin Bank Bhd has dipped its toes into the cryptocurrency sphere by signing an agreement with Halogen Capital to distribute the Halogen Shariah Defensive Bitcoin Fund. The fund will employ a buy-and-hold strategy that puts investors’ money in low-risk Islamic fixed deposits and Bitcoin. The fund’s initial minimum investment is RM10,000 with an initial sales charge of up to 2% and an annual management fee of 1%. Halogen Capital is a digital asset fund manager licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia.
- Malaysia has suffered an RM933.4 mil loss from flood-related damages in 2024 alone. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the figure is up 23% compared to the previous year. By states, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah suffered the most, particularly in housing and business premises. Since the ‘worst flood in a century’ in 2021 that led to RM6.11 bil in losses, Putrajaya has spent RM22.57 bil in 120 flood mitigation projects nationwide.
Around the S.E.A.
The rebel alliance is striking back to the empire
China state media stated that instead of helping the US economy, US own tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump will hurt their own economy. This is because other countries that tersakiti by US tariffs will start putting up their own protectionist policies. For example, India is planning to impose a temporary 12% duty on a wide range of steel products. The proposed tariffs on Indian imports will be applied for a period of 200 days, according to the preliminary decision. The China state media also added that US protectionism policies will also make countries move away from partnering with Uncle Sam and actively seek to diversify their economic partnerships by forging new trade alliances, without the US in the mix. While former US President Bill Clinton may attributed for promoting trade globalism, we think the throne of Bapa Protectionist, hands down should be crowned to Trump.
Geopolitical update around the globe
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to stop all attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities but is still yet to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine said it would support the scaled-back agreement, which would require both countries to hold off firing on each other’s energy infrastructure for about a month. However, we are still far from a full peace agreement for the war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2014. However, Trump hoped that a full 30-day ceasefire would be the first step toward a permanent peace deal.
- The Taiwanese Defense Ministry predicted that 2027 would be the year that China will initiate the invasion of Taiwan, an island that China claimed as its own territory. Previously, US officials have also claimed that China is preparing to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, citing as evidence Beijing’s build-up of fighter aircraft, warships and move to double its inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles since 2020. Despite that, some quarters argued that the 2027 timeline announced by Taiwan is just political rhetoric to force its Parliament to approve its military spending plans, which are at a stalemate in the Parliament.
For your EYES only
Who expects a TV series will lead to the purchase of an additional 30 new aircraft? This is what happened in Thailand as Bangkok Airways Pcl is planning to order 30 new airliners from Airbus SE, Boeing Co and Embraer SA, to capitalise on the tourism boom that was initiated by the popular television series The White Lotus. The show is expected to drive an influx of tourists to Thailand (especially Koh Samui, which is one of the destinations featured in the TV series), with the government predicting a record 40 mil visitors to the country this year. Malaysia, enough spending millions on promo videos and instead, the money should be spent on persuading producers and directors to produce TV Series featuring locations in Malaysia.
Bangkok Airways is gearing up to order as many as 30 new aircraft as it plans for a tourism boost driven by the popularity of TV series White Lotus https://t.co/4zpTkH0vqx
— Bloomberg Asia (@BloombergAsia) March 19, 2025
