Andrew Chan of the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association said as the US was far ahead in terms of technology and money, the government should rethink its strategy and focus on wooing talent instead. Hence, an MM2H-like initiative could attract foreign nationals.

Chan also said Malaysia should leverage its geo-political neutrality to become a leading player in the semiconductor industry.

“The country could position itself to be the Switzerland of the electrical and electronics sector by becoming the arbitration centre and set standards for the industry as well as resolve issues related to semiconductors,” he said at a forum held at the Asean Investors Conference here.

Chan’s comments come days after the association’s president, Wong Siew Hai, was reported as saying that the industry was not out of the woods despite it being exempted from US tariffs.

Wong told The Edge that semiconductors could still be separately targeted in future trade actions by the US. He also said American semiconductor firms operating in Malaysia would not be spared either from potential tariffs.

Chu Jenn Weng, co-founder of tech company ViTrox Corporation Bhd, said Malaysia should build on its strengths in assembly, testing and packaging.

“We should continue it with advanced packaging.”

He also urged Malaysia to take advantage of new opportunities in robotics and artificial intelligence.

Chu added that while Malaysia exported semiconductors, it also imported a significant amount of semiconductor parts, an imbalance that could be addressed by strengthening regional supply chains.

“We need to see how we can source this from Asean countries.”

In terms of talent development, Chu said there needed to be a mindset shift, or the nation would risk seeing talent being put in the “wrong place”.