KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports continue to be driven by the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector, which expanded by 39.7 percent to 382.9 billion ringgit (94 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 48.2 percent of Malaysia's total exports in the first five months of 2026, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said on Monday.
The sector's performance has proven its resilience, and the government seeks to build upon this success by moving up the value chain, particularly in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, Akmal said in his keynote speech at an E&E symposium here.
"A sector that contributes almost half of national exports cannot remain merely a production platform. It must become an innovation platform that drives higher productivity, better wages, stronger local companies, and deeper technological capability," he said.
"Malaysia is now ranked as the world's sixth-largest semiconductor exporter and contributes around 13 percent of global assembly, testing, and packaging activities," he said, adding that this is supported by the country's energy security, water availability, logistics reliability, regulatory certainty, talent depth, and the ease of working with the government.
Akmal also said the government will continue to support the sector by creating the conditions for industry to succeed through providing policy clarity, coordinating across ministries and states, removing unnecessary friction, and ensuring that plans translate into results on the ground. ■
