Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamualaiikum warrahmatullahi wabarakatuh
Salam Malaysia MADANI and good afternoon
It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to this special gathering under the ASEAN 2025 Finance Track. We are joined today by some of the region’s most forward-looking thinkers and doers - industry leaders, investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and academics - each playing a vital role in shaping the ASEAN economy of tomorrow.
This afternoon’s session - A Nation That Creates - reflects a simple but powerful belief: that prosperity must be built, not borrowed. In today’s fast-changing world, long-term competitiveness will not come from reacting to global shifts, but from designing ecosystems that empower our people, our firms, and our ideas to thrive.
Our first panel centres on semiconductors - an industry that powers not just devices, but entire economies. From smartphones to satellites, and from electric vehicles to AI, chips are the currency of modern progress. And ASEAN, quietly but consistently, has become an indispensable node in this global supply chain.
In 2023 alone, our region’s semiconductor market stood at over USD 31 billion - and is projected to exceed USD 52 billion by 2032. But while scale is important, strategy is everything. If we want to lead, we must look beyond volume and toward value.
That means moving up the value chain - into front-end design, fabrication, and IP development - so that ASEAN is not merely a place where innovation is assembled, but where innovation begins.
No nation achieves this alone. Taiwan didn’t rise through talent alone, and the US didn’t lead through capital alone. It was ecosystems –cohesive, coordinated, and supported – that made the difference. ASEAN must do the same, and we must do it together.
As a region, ASEAN holds immense potential to shape the next chapter of the global semiconductor story. We possess deep industrial capabilities, a growing base of skilled engineers, increasingly sophisticated innovation hubs, and access to some of the world’s most dynamic consumer and enterprise markets.
ASEAN strength lies not in doing the same thing everywhere - but in doing complementary things together. With the right coordination, we can transform ASEAN into an integrated, agile, and future-ready semiconductor powerhouse.
But we must be clear-eyed about the headwinds. The global realignment of supply chains driven by rising geopolitical tensions and protectionist trade policies is reshaping global trade and production models. The recent announcement by the United States to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries with trade surpluses, including a 24% tariff on Malaysian exports, is not an isolated development - it is part of a broader shift toward more inward-looking policies.
For ASEAN, this is an inflection point - one that calls for clarity, coordination, and collective resolve. ASEAN’s best response is not to retreat into protectionism, but to advance through integration. We must diversify our supply chains, champion open regionalism through frameworks like RCEP and CPTPP, and make full use of tools like the ASEAN Single Window to reduce friction and build trust.
Our second panel turns to a different but equally critical frontier: startups and venture capital. ASEAN is no longer just an emerging market. It is a rising innovation market. With a young, digital-native population and a surge of entrepreneurial energy, our region is bursting with potential. Inspiration starts the story but ecosystems write the next chapter.
Since 2012, ASEAN has produced more than 10 unicorns with a combined value exceeding USD 34 billion. Yet our startup ecosystem still suffers from uneven access to funding, fragmented markets, and limited scaling support.
If semiconductors are the hardware of the future economy, then startups are its operating system driving agility, adaptability, and innovation. But bold ideas don’t scale in isolation. To thrive, startups need the infrastructure of opportunity: clear rules, open markets, trusted networks, and institutions that grow with them, not around them.
The momentum is building. Across ASEAN, we’re seeing a new wave of policy innovation — where governments are not just regulators, but enablers of capital formation. From fund-of-funds to sovereign-backed VC platforms, the region is starting to lay down the scaffolding needed for high-growth firms to emerge, scale, and stay. This isn’t subsidy — it’s strategic nation-building.
One such initiative is the recent move by six of Malaysia’s Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs) to collectively mobilise RM120 billion over five years, with a focus on high-growth sectors like semiconductors, digital infrastructure, and venture capital. But this is not just about funding firms. It’s about forging ecosystems that support companies across the entire lifecycle.
These efforts reflect a deeper shift across ASEAN: from isolated interventions to integrated platforms; from short-term gains to long-term resilience. We are moving from building projects to building capacity, and from funding ideas to forging industries.
Across both panels today, semiconductors and startups, runs a common thread: ecosystems matter. It is not enough to have capital or companies. What we need are enabling conditions: strong institutions, open markets, skilled talent, and collaborative networks that help firms grow across borders.
In this context, ASEAN’s resilience will not be judged by how well we withstand shocks, but by how boldly we design the future. It will be measured not in how fast we bounce back - but in how far we leap forward.
In an age of rising protectionism and trade friction including reciprocal tariffs, we must resist the urge to turn inward. Fragmentation may be the trend, but it must not be our trajectory. ASEAN’s advantage has never been about scale alone but solidarity. The trust we build across borders, sectors, and institutions will be our greatest hedge against uncertainty, and our greatest asset in shaping ASEAN resilience.
Today’s side events are a timely platform for reflection and collaboration. They offer an opportunity not just to share insights, but to align efforts across sectors, across borders, and across priorities. In shaping ecosystems for semiconductors and startups, the discussions we have today can lay the groundwork for more connected, more resilient economies across ASEAN.
The journey ahead will no doubt come with challenges. But we move forward with strong foundations — demographics, capability, and a history of regional cooperation. The strength of ASEAN has always come from its ability to find common purpose amid complexity. Let us continue that tradition — with focus, with unity, and with resolve.
As we move into today’s discussions, I encourage everyone to engage openly and purposefully. Share experiences, ask the difficult questions, and explore opportunities for collaboration because the progress we make here depends not just on policy, but on partnership.
With that, I thank you once again for your presence and commitment. I look forward to the thoughtful exchanges ahead, and to the ideas and relationships that will help shape the next phase of ASEAN’s growth.
In uncertain times, let ASEAN be the region that welcomes capital, nurtures innovation, and delivers trust. In a world increasingly defined by division, let others draw lines - ASEAN will build bridges.
Thank you.
--BERNAMA
