Guan Eng to meet Chow over need for IC design park

Lim Guan Eng says Penang should leverage its lead in back-end chip manufacturing to establish front-end IC design work.

PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng will meet Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow to discuss if there is a need to set up an integrated circuit design park in the state.

Yesterday, Chow said he welcomed a meeting with Lim to talk about the matter.

In a statement today, Lim, the Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman, reiterated his call for Penang to learn from Selangor to set up a semiconductor accelerator and IC design park.

He said Penang should leverage its lead in back-end chip manufacturing to establish front-end IC design work.

“IC design will help to (produce) microchips that are fundamental building blocks for electronic devices from smartphones to supercomputers.

“A front-end semiconductor accelerator and IC design park would reinforce Penang’s position as the Silicon Valley in Malaysia.

“I will be meeting chief minister Chow Kon Yeow as to why he feels Penang may not need an IC design park, or there is no problem not having an IC design park as there are already many related companies in the state,” he said.

On April 22, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced at the KL20 Summit 2024 a plan for a semiconductor accelerator and IC design hub under Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec).

The project involves four strategic partners: the Softbank-owned Arm Holdings, the Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association, Penang-based IC designer SkyeChip Sdn Bhd and Malaysia AI Storage (MaiStorage) or Phison.

Separately, Lim welcomed Chow’s announcement that three Chinese semiconductor companies are considering investing US$100 million in Penang, saying it will help to bolster the state’s back-end manufacturing ecosystem.