Asia Tech Wire (May 29) -- Malaysia seeks to become a global chip hub, targeting to attract nearly $106 billion in investment.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar on Tuesday announced a strategy to support the semiconductor industry, with the goal of attracting at least 500 billion ringgit ($106 billion) investment in chip design, advanced packaging and manufacturing equipment and other areas.

The Malaysian government plans to allocate at least $5.3 billion in financial support for this purpose.

According to the strategy, Malaysia needs to train and improve the skills of 60,000 local high-tech engineers so that the country can become the global semiconductor industry's research and development center.

Malaysia also plans to establish at least 10 local companies specializing in semiconductor design and advanced packaging, Anwar said.