Firms shift operations from singapore to improve efficiency

Firms shift to Malay­sia

Cross­ing over for growth

Firms shift oper­a­tions from singa­pore to improve effi­ciency

25 Jun 2026

PETALING JAYA: Com­pan­ies are increas­ingly shift­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics and regional headquar­ters from Singa­pore to Malay­sia, with H&M, Gardenia, Heineken and Yeo’s among the latest to relo­cate or expand oper­a­tions here.

The Malay­sian Invest­ment Devel­op­ment Author­ity (Mida) said the moves were part of a broader trend as com­pan­ies reas­sess where best to loc­ate man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics, headquar­ters and sup­port func­tions to drive future growth.

Mida chief exec­ut­ive officer Datuk Sikh Sham­sul Ibrahim Sikh Abdul Majid said busi­nesses were no longer look­ing at loc­a­tions solely based on costs, but are increas­ingly focused on oper­a­tional effi­ciency, sup­ply chain resi­li­ence, tal­ent avail­ab­il­ity and long-term growth poten­tial.

“Rather than view­ing this as a single relo­ca­tion trend, we see it as part of a broader regional optim­isa­tion strategy,” he said in an inter­view.

Last month, Swedish fash­ion giant H&M announced that it was relo­cat­ing its South-east Asia headquar­ters from Singa­pore to Kuala Lum­pur.

Also in May, Malay­sian bread man­u­fac­turer Gardenia said that it was mov­ing its bakery pro­duc­tion in Singa­pore to Johor Baru.

In March, mul­tina­tional brew­ing com­pany Heineken announced it was shift­ing pro­duc­tion from Singa­pore to Malay­sia and Viet­nam.

Earlier this year, bever­age brand Yeo’s said it was clos­ing its man­u­fac­tur­ing facil­ity in Sen­oko, Singa­pore, and con­sol­id­at­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing oper­a­tions in Johor and Selangor.

Accord­ing to Mida, Malay­sia con­tin­ues to attract interest across a wide range of activ­it­ies, includ­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics, regional headquar­ters, digital oper­a­tions, engin­eer­ing and shared ser­vices.

It said investor interest remains par­tic­u­larly strong in data centres and digital infra­struc­ture, semi­con­duct­ors, advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics, renew­able energy and green tech­no­logy.

Malay­sia approved Rm92.8bil in invest­ments across 1,249 projects in the first quarter of 2026, with the projects expec­ted to cre­ate 50,226 jobs, rep­res­ent­ing a 46.7% increase in job cre­ation com­pared with the same period last year.

The top sources of approved for­eign invest­ments were Japan, China, the United States and Singa­pore.

Johor attrac­ted Rm16.9bil in approved invest­ments across 191 projects dur­ing the quarter, cre­at­ing 8,287 jobs.

The Johor-singa­pore Spe­cial Eco­nomic Zone con­tin­ued to strengthen invest­ment momentum by improv­ing con­nectiv­ity and cre­at­ing a more integ­rated eco­nomic eco­sys­tem between the two coun­tries.

Sikh Sham­sul Ibrahim said Malay­sia and Singa­pore were increas­ingly being viewed as com­ple­ment­ary loc­a­tions, with many com­pan­ies main­tain­ing stra­tegic func­tions in Singa­pore while loc­at­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics and oper­a­tional activ­it­ies in Malay­sia.

“To remain com­pet­it­ive, our focus extends bey­ond attract­ing invest­ments to ensur­ing projects are imple­men­ted suc­cess­fully and con­tinue to expand in Malay­sia,” he said.

Among its pri­or­it­ies are strength­en­ing investor facil­it­a­tion and after­care ser­vices, accel­er­at­ing project imple­ment­a­tion through the Invest Malay­sia Facil­it­a­tion Centre, and attract­ing qual­ity invest­ments that cre­ate skilled jobs, encour­age tech­no­logy trans­fer and strengthen domestic sup­ply chains.

The agency is also pla­cing greater emphasis on sup­plier upgrad­ing, tal­ent devel­op­ment, industry col­lab­or­a­tion and higher-value activ­it­ies, par­tic­u­larly in sec­tors such as semi­con­duct­ors, digital infra­struc­ture and advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing.

Sikh Sham­sul Ibrahim said Malay­sia was mov­ing bey­ond tra­di­tional assembly activ­it­ies in the semi­con­ductor industry towards higher-value areas such as design, advanced pack­aging and innov­a­tion, sup­por­ted by eco­sys­tem devel­op­ment and industry part­ner­ships.

“When estab­lished regional com­pan­ies choose to expand or strengthen their pres­ence in Malay­sia, it reflects con­fid­ence in what the coun­try has to offer – a skilled work­force, strong infra­struc­ture and a gov­ern­ment that is com­mit­ted to facil­it­at­ing invest­ment,” he said.

by ALLISON LAI and Ger­ard GIMINO

25 Jun 2026

More global and regional com­pan­ies are mov­ing their Singa­pore oper­a­tions here, part of a broader invest­ment wave set to cre­ate thou­sands of new jobs. Busi­ness groups say the shift is per­man­ent, but eco­nom­ists warn that the coun­try must reduce the red tape and build up tal­ent and infra­struc­ture to reap the full rewards.

PETALING JAYA: Global and regional firms increas­ingly view Malay­sia and Singa­pore as com­ple­ment­ary des­tin­a­tions rather than com­pet­ing loc­a­tions, say busi­ness groups.

They said firms are split­ting man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics and oper­a­tional func­tions across both mar­kets to improve effi­ciency and sup­port growth.

Asso­ci­ated Chinese Cham­bers of Com­merce and Industry of Malay­sia pres­id­ent Datuk Ng Yih Pyng said Malay­sia is emer­ging as a key bene­fi­ciary of regional sup­ply chain realign­ment.

“I believe this is no longer merely a trend, but rather a struc­tural shift driven by changes in the global eco­nomic and geo­pol­it­ical land­scape.

“With sup­ply chain restruc­tur­ing, ongo­ing trade ten­sions and com­pan­ies reas­sess­ing their regional strategies, more busi­nesses are look­ing for an oper­a­tional base that is stable, stra­tegic­ally loc­ated and well-con­nec­ted to regional mar­kets,” he said.

Ng said Malay­sia’s appeal extends bey­ond its rel­at­ively com­pet­it­ive oper­at­ing costs.

He poin­ted to the coun­try’s stra­tegic loc­a­tion, con­nectiv­ity to regional mar­kets and prag­matic approach in global affairs as key advant­ages.

“Whether serving the Asean mar­ket, the broader South-east Asian region or inter­na­tional mar­kets, Malay­sia offers strong con­nectiv­ity and access­ib­il­ity.

“This is one of the key reas­ons why more regional firms and mul­tina­tional cor­por­a­tions are shift­ing parts of their man­u­fac­tur­ing, logist­ics, oper­a­tions and even regional headquar­ters func­tions to Malay­sia,” he said.

Malay­sian Con­sor­tium of Midtier Com­pan­ies pres­id­ent Mar­tin Ang said Malay­sia’s attract­ive­ness also lies in its estab­lished indus­trial eco­sys­tem, mul­ti­lin­gual work­force and policy con­tinu­ity.

He said areas such as Johor and Greater Kuala Lum­pur are see­ing stronger interest from firms relo­cat­ing or expand­ing oper­a­tions from Singa­pore, sup­por­ted by estab­lished sup­ply chains and tal­ent eco­sys­tems.

Ang noted that Malay­sia’s long-stand­ing strengths in man­u­fac­tur­ing and semi­con­duct­ors con­tinue to provide investors with con­fid­ence.

However, both busi­ness lead­ers stressed that Malay­sia can­not afford to become com­pla­cent.

“The real com­pet­i­tion going for­ward will not only be about who offers lower costs, but who can provide higher value, greater effi­ciency and a more com­plete indus­trial eco­sys­tem,” Ng said.

He said Malay­sia’s pri­or­ity should be attract­ing qual­ity invest­ments that can trans­form the coun­try into a high-value eco­nomy, rather than remain­ing a low-cost pro­duc­tion base.

Among the main areas that need atten­tion are tal­ent devel­op­ment in arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI), semi­con­duct­ors, advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing and the digital eco­nomy, as well as improve­ments in logist­ics, trans­port con­nectiv­ity and digital infra­struc­ture.

Ang agreed, say­ing a short­age of spe­cial­ised engin­eers, AI tal­ent and advanced tech­ni­cians remains a chal­lenge for higher­value indus­tries.

He also high­lighted grow­ing demands on infra­struc­ture, par­tic­u­larly power and water resources, as indus­trial and data centre invest­ments con­tinue to expand.

At the same time, he cau­tioned that local small and medium enter­prises face increas­ing pres­sure from low-cost imports and global sup­ply chain dis­rup­tions.

They said stronger col­lab­or­a­tion between mul­tina­tional cor­por­a­tions and local firms would be cru­cial to ensure tech­no­logy trans­fer, strengthen domestic sup­ply chains and help Malay­sian com­pan­ies move fur­ther up the value chain.

AI chatbots are not doctors

 PETALING JAYA: More Malaysians are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for health information, from checking symptoms and understanding medical reports to learning about medications and traditional ­remedies.

While healthcare professionals welcome the technology as a useful educational tool, they caution that information should not be mistaken for a diagnosis.

Doctors, pharmacists and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners say patients are increasingly arriving with information obtained from AI chatbots, prompting concerns that some may delay seeking treatment, self-medicate or misinterpret symptoms without professional guidance.

Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo said it has become increasingly common for patients to consult AI chatbots or search online before seeing a doctor. 

“This is not necessarily a bad thing. Patients today are more informed and more engaged in their healthcare.

“The concern is often not that AI gives a completely wrong answer. The concern is that patients may delay seeking medical attention because the advice appears reassuring,” he said in an interview yesterday.

ALSO READ: Chatbots show clear limitations during user scenario

“For some conditions, that may not matter. For others, such as dengue, stroke, heart attack or cancer, that delay can be significant. When it comes to healthcare, timing matters.”

He noted that AI can only work with the information provided by users and lacks the ability to conduct physical examinations or investigations.

“Medicine is more than information. It is examination, investigation, judgment and responsibility. AI can be a useful source of information, but it should not replace a medical consultation. It can point patients in the right direction, but it cannot confirm a diagnosis,” he said.

'CLICK TO ENLARGE'

Universiti Malaya epidemiology and public health expert Prof Dr Sanjay Rampal said AI has made health information more accessible, but users should be mindful that general-purpose models may also provide inaccurate information.

“The models’ reasoning is based on information available on the Internet. As we know, the Internet contains both good and bad ­information.

“As the models become more intelligent, AI literacy is going to be just as important as health literacy,” he said.

Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild honorary ­secretary Rachel Gan said pharmacists are increasingly seeing customers consult AI before seeking professional advice.

“Sometimes they show us the AI responses and ask us to verify the information or explain why the chatbot suggested something different,” she said.

Gan said AI could be useful for general health information, but consumers may become unnecessarily anxious if they misinterpret the information provided.

Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang said pharmacists are particularly concerned when consumers use AI-generated information to make decisions about medicines without professional advice.

He warned that over-the-­counter medicines, supplements and herbal products may ­temporarily relieve symptoms while masking more serious underlying conditions.

“Some symptoms that appear harmless can be signs of more serious diseases that require medical attention,” he said.

Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations Malaysia president Prof Dr Ng Po Kok said TCM practitioners are seeing more patients consult AI before seeking advice on herbs and traditional remedies.

“Some enter medical terms from their lab reports and ask AI to explain them before bringing the information to us,” he said.

However, he stressed that AI could not replace professional assessment.

“Two patients may have similar symptoms but require different treatment approaches. This is something AI may not always be able to determine accurately,” he said, adding that AI cannot replace a consultation, physical examination and follow-up.

Related stories:

• Chatbots show clear limitations during user scenario
• AI is smart, but users need to be smarter

Japan at a crossroads; inside unit 731

Des­pite Tokyo’s hard­line stand on its his­tory in the region, there is still time to invest in a more fruit­ful shared future through greater accom­mod­a­tion.

Unpopular move? Protesters hold placards and lights during a rally against Takaichi’s administration for its military expansion policies in front of the parliament building in Tokyo last month. — Reuters 

 

LAST Octo­ber Sanae Takai­chi became Japan’s first female leader of both the Lib­eral Demo­cratic Party (LDP) and the gov­ern­ment.

The “lib­eral” in the LDP actu­ally means con­ser­vat­ive. Takai­chi her­self belongs to the hard­line rightwing Nip­pon Kaigi fac­tion of the party.

Soon enough, she would come to brush against China. Respond­ing to a ques­tion, she said Japan would take mil­it­ary action if China moved on Taiwan and affected Japan’s interests.

That soured China-japan rela­tions, trig­ger­ing bit­ter WWII memor­ies of a rightwing mil­it­ar­ist Japan invad­ing, occupy­ing and com­mit­ting war crimes in China. Those wounds have yet to heal.

Mod­el­ling her­self after Bri­tain’s brazen first female Prime Min­is­ter Mar­garet Thatcher, Takai­chi was unapo­lo­getic. She fur­ther prod­ded Beijing by seek­ing to revise Japan’s post­war Con­sti­tu­tion to favour mil­it­ar­ism, and work­ing with the US and its allies to con­tain China.

Other coun­tries began to regard Takai­chi’s Japan as poten­tially revi­sion­ist, bent on white­wash­ing its his­tory of war atro­cit­ies and may even repeat them. So is Japan get­ting ready to remil­it­ar­ise?

At issue is Art­icle 9 of the Con­sti­tu­tion on Japan’s mil­it­ary forces, offi­cially the Self-defence Forces (SDF) after Japan’s sur­render in 1945. Takai­chi wants to remove the SDF’S con­sti­tu­tional con­straints to enable an assert­ive mil­it­ary pos­ture abroad.

That is chal­len­ging because it requires two-thirds major­it­ies in both the Lower and Upper Houses of the Diet. While the LDP lacks sup­port from the lat­ter, it is work­ing to boost mil­it­ary power, capa­city and reach in other ways.

For the first time since 1945, Japan par­ti­cip­ated prom­in­ently in this year’s Us-led Balikatan mil­it­ary exer­cises with live-fire drills in the South China Sea. Japan will also be export­ing lethal weapons, man­u­fac­tur­ing to scale and expand­ing mil­it­ary links abroad.

Must this mean Japan is return­ing to its mil­it­ar­ist past of a cen­tury ago? Much depends on the pre­vail­ing regional real­it­ies.

The US is encour­aging other coun­tries to play a big­ger regional defence role. This is as true for Asia as it is for Europe, and applies for both Repub­lican and Demo­cratic admin­is­tra­tions.

A 2012 Us-japan treaty would halve the 19,000 Mar­ines in Okinawa by return­ing them to Guam, Hawaii and the US main­land. Deploy­ments to the Phil­ip­pines tend to be more lim­ited and ad hoc.

In post-wwii East Asia, US mil­it­ary hege­mony is seen to keep the peace by remov­ing the need for Japan’s mil­it­ary build-up. The same applies with Ger­many in Europe.

However, US bipar­tisan policy is retrench­ing long-term regional mil­it­ary post­ings. Mil­it­ary forces will still be deployed for lim­ited mis­sions, such as in Iran or Venezuela, but major post­ings in far-flung regions are another mat­ter.

Regard­less of who is head­ing Japan’s gov­ern­ment, Tokyo will want to look more to itself for its defence role and com­mit­ments.

Unlike Ger­many, Japan is not seen by other coun­tries to have fully atoned for its imper­ial wars and the dev­ast­a­tion they unleashed. An unre­pent­ant rightwing leader now lead­ing an appar­ent mil­it­ary revival only exacer­bates Japan’s trust defi­cits.

Non­ethe­less, mod­ern East Asia’s real­it­ies would inhibit if not pro­hibit any ultra-nation­al­ist Japan­ese leader from return­ing to the coun­try’s imper­i­al­ist past.

Such an out­come will not be accept­able to West­ern powers because Japan­ese nation­al­ism is anti-west­ern. A rampant nation­al­ist Japan will ali­en­ate all other sig­ni­fic­ant powers in a more developed Asia and a more mul­ti­polar world.

Eco­nom­ic­ally, Japan’s best days are over so it has insuf­fi­cient resources to chal­lenge the sov­er­eignty of other global stake­hold­ers includ­ing Asia’s middle powers. Its eco­nomy has slipped below Ger­many’s and India’s to fifth place, and con­tin­ues slid­ing.

Socially and insti­tu­tion­ally, Japan­ese hawks may be in a minor­ity even in Japan. Groups and indi­vidu­als stage protests against per­ceived drifts towards mil­it­ar­ism, in a coun­try where dis­sent­ing voices mat­ter.

Even within the LDP and other main­stream insti­tu­tions, evid­ence of an exclus­ive, mono­lithic bloc favour­ing mil­it­ar­ism is sparse. The gen­eral pub­lic still tends to be averse to rad­ical con­sti­tu­tional changes.

Former Prime Min­is­ter Yukio Hat­oy­ama cri­ti­cised Takai­chi’s petty pop­u­lism, stress­ing that Taiwan’s status is China’s internal affair. Former Deputy Prime Min­is­ter Yohei Kono inves­ted a life­time in build­ing bridges with China.

Another former Prime Min­is­ter, Yasuo Fukuda, accepts rein­ter­pret­a­tion of Art­icle 9 without des­cend­ing into pop­u­list mil­it­ar­ism. In 2017, then Prime Min­is­ter Shinzo Abe declared that Japan was ready to cooper­ate with China in the Belt and Road Ini­ti­at­ive, des­pite Abe being another mem­ber of the LDP’S Nip­pon Kaigi fac­tion.

Pro­fessor Mike Moch­izuki says the way for Japan to work with a way­ward Trump-led US is not to ali­en­ate China, but instead to improve rela­tions with Beijing and deepen Tokyo’s stake in the region. Takai­chi also hap­pens to be reach­ing out to Asean coun­tries like Malay­sia in busi­ness deals, and this should be encour­aged.

Kono passed away last Monday, while fine-tun­ing new plans for cooper­at­ing with China. Whether Takai­chi’s real­ism will even­tu­ally out­live her pop­u­lism remains to be seen.

Bunn Nagara is dir­ector and senior fel­low of the Renais­sance Stra­tegic Research Insti­tute, and hon­or­ary fel­low at the Perak Academy. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.

By BUNN NAGARA

Bunn Nagara is dir­ector and senior fel­low of the Renais­sance Stra­tegic Research Insti­tute, and hon­or­ary fel­low at the Perak Academy. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.

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