Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) founder Richard Chang said that more can be done to attract Chinese investors. He said that he personally knows of several Chinese companies that were interested in investing in Malaysia during “A Dialogue with Dr Richard Chang” held at Wawasan Open University's Homestead Mansion last Saturday (17 August).
He believes that Malaysia is ready to move out of providing services to delve into Intellectual Property (IP) and product design. He said that the semiconductor industry started in the USA and moved eastwards until it reached Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China, with some of the backend technologies in Malaysia. “China treasures the long-term cooperation and friendship with Asian countries, especially Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. There is a lot of potential due to the “very good relationship” with China.
“If you ask me, how to do it? Just think about how Taiwan did it,” he said, adding that Taiwan transferred a lot of technology from the USA, Japan and Europe. “(Similarly), Malaysia can transfer technology from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, including the USA,” he said, attributing this to not having any geopolitical restrictions.
“Based on my understanding, many Chinese companies will be happy to work with you. The state-owned business may not be able to do it, but the privately owned companies—they have no restrictions. They’d like to come here—welcome them” he said, urging Malaysians to welcome Chinese companies. He said to invite these companies to Malaysia and was convinced that more than 90% would say ‘yes.’ He also said that Malaysia just needs to think about what it wants to do. “If you want to do design, China has more than a thousand design companies making all sorts of designs,” he said.
Chang said that Malaysia can continue to improve and be strong not only in backend technology but also in the front end. However, he said that to build up the design house, a lot of financial investments are needed, but 'not too heavy,' and suggested that those interested seek out seed funding from the government or investments from the private sector. He also added that it was difficult to find good designers or leaders to build the design equipment. “Malaysia is doing well, but it needs to do more,” he said.
Responding to WF Foong’s question about what Chang desired if he had the ears of Prime Minster Anwar Ibrahim, he suggested that Malaysia set “a realistic goal, find the right partner, and provide support in all aspects including land, finance and policies.
“Then, we can do it,” he said.
Anwar announced the development of Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit (IC) Design Park based in Selangor last April, indicating upscale movement in the semiconductor value chain.
Also known as "the father of China's foundry industry" and the "godfather of semiconductors,” Chang is a veteran of the semiconductor industry with over thirty years of experience, spanning renowned multinational companies such as Texas Instruments where he worked for more than two decades, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), before founding SMIC in 2000. SMIC is a partially state-owned publicly listed Chinese semiconductor foundry company. It is also the world’s third-largest chip manufacturer and China’s largest contract chip manufacturer. However, Chang is no longer with SMIC and founded GTA Semiconductor in 2017.
Chang was visiting Penang at the invitation of Waftech Sdn Bhd, an automated thin wafer handling and process equipment company serving the semiconductor industry. This is his second visit to Penang. He has also visited Sarawak twice.
Loo Lee Lian, the CEO of Invest Penang was also present at the dialogue. She revealed that Chang has shown interest in investing in Penang.
The dialogue was jointly organised by Waftech Sdn. Bhd. and Wawasan
Open University in collaboration with Blue Chip Venture Capital. Wawasan’s
chief executive and vice-chancellor Lily Chan explained that as Wawasan is an
open distance learning campus, it regularly organises industry-based programmes
for its mature students.