Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology (CREST) Center

Courtesy visit from Uzma Group CTIO office and Lestari H2GaaS to Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology (CREST) Center Malaysia office in Penang last week. CREST Malaysia, is an industry-led initiative aimed at enhancing Malaysia's R&D ecosystem, particularly in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector. Established in 2012, CREST operates under the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) and focuses on market-driven collaborative research and talent development. The discussion centred around green economy with CEO of Lestari Colin Patrick shared some of the initiatives and success stories of green H2 economy in Sarawak and Uzma as an energy tech discussing some of the areas of tech and innovation particularly in new energy (renewables) and digital earth. We opined the semiconductor and green energy sectors can complement each other significantly, creating synergies that enhance technological innovation, sustainability, and economic growth. Back in 2018, I introduced Uzma to join MIGHTmalaysia more than 5 years ago and based on this partnership Uzma has morphed and started venturing into image analytics / digital earth foray. With the help MIGHT via MASIC (Malaysia Space Industry Corporation) agency; soon enough we will be having our own satellite launch in Aug/Sep this year – UzmaSAT-1. (Geospatial AI Sdn Bhd) I hope to see similar success and ventures with MIGHT can be emulate with CREST perhaps in the green / hydrogen economy together with powerful Petronas subsidiary such as Lestari as an enabler in not-too-distant future. Note: Almost 15 years since I have left Penang after taking a job in Kuala Lumpur, feeling a bit misty and sentimental seeing all the familiar places in Bayan Lepas, Juru etc. Now Penang is coming back stronger than ever. It has positioned as a resilient and competitive player in the global semiconductor market. This time we hope green energy can create the synergies with E&E sectors and taking Penang, Greater Northern region and Malaysia to a greater height. Jaffri Ibrahim Ahmad Rizan Ibrahim Ahmad Zamfidi Muhammed

US-China competition, especially in the semiconductor industry, actually benefits Malaysia. As pointed out by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the current geopolitical situation has pushed multinational semiconductor companies to make strategic decisions to establish a second supply chain and no longer relying solely on one country to ensure a safe and resilient supply chain, otherwise known as "de-risking". Many of these companies have chosen Malaysia as a new destination to set up their manufacturing facilities. Companies with a long presence in the country, such as Intel from the United States and Infineon from Germany, also continue to expand their operations significantly in Malaysia. Malaysia needs to seize this golden opportunity to further develop our semiconductor industry and become a high-value-added semiconductor producer with activities throughout the value chain such as IC design, wafer fabrication, on top of assembly and testing. These activities will create high-quality and high-skilled job opportunities which pay Malaysians better. This is the ultimate outcome we wish to see in Malaysia's industrial development and economic growth.