Four Malaysian companies have received six Arm technology access approvals as the country strengthens its semiconductor capabilities in chip design, intellectual property (IP) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the approvals comprise three Arm Compute Subsystems accesses and three Arm Flexible Access licences, forming part of the Malaysia-Arm strategic collaboration.
He said the initiative aims to train 10,000 semiconductor professionals over four years, with 1,530 participants having completed training under the programme as of July 3.
“The Malaysia–Arm strategic collaboration marks an important step in strengthening Malaysia’s capabilities in intellectual property, chip design and artificial intelligence (AI) related technologies.
“By providing access to proven internet protocol (IP) and compute platforms, the initiative will help Malaysian companies shorten development timelines, reduce research and development (R&D) risks and move more quickly towards commercial semiconductor products,” he said in his keynote address at The Edge-HSBC E&E Symposium 2026: The Value Chain Shift.
Akmal Nasrullah said the government is encouraging more Malaysian companies to utilise the available technology to develop products that can compete in regional and global markets.
He added that technology access must eventually translate into technology ownership, allowing Malaysia to move beyond being a manufacturing base towards becoming an innovation partner with more locally developed products.
“Success must not be measured only by investment approvals or factory openings. It must be measured by products commercialised, patents created, high-skilled jobs generated, local suppliers strengthened and Malaysian companies that can compete globally,” he said.
Akmal Nasrullah said Malaysia’s semiconductor progress should focus on moving from capacity to capability and from investment attraction towards value creation.
