Penang Allocates 10 Acres of Industrial Land Valued at RM40 Million for the Establishment of Penang ATE Campus
Source: InvestPenang
To support the development of this initiative, the Penang State Government, through the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), has allocated 10 acres of land within the PDC Industrial Park, valued at approximately RM40 million, for the establishment of the Penang ATE Campus.
The state government is also seeking federal support to further accelerate the development of the Penang ATE Campus, in alignment with the National Semiconductor Strategy’s (NSS) focus on equipment manufacturing.
Spearheaded by InvestPenang, the Penang ATE Campus aims to accelerate innovation and reinforce Penang’s ATE ecosystem, with a focus on advanced packaging, IDM, EMS, MedTech and semiconductor equipment manufacturing. The initiative draws inspiration from the Brainport Industries Campus in Eindhoven, a high-tech manufacturing cluster that integrates industry collaboration, innovation and talent development within a single ecosystem.
Since October 2025, InvestPenang has conducted a series of engagement sessions with industry stakeholders to identify growth opportunities within the ecosystem.
Today’s workshop brought together 14 MNCs in the IDM, EMS and MedTech sectors – ams Osram, B.Braun, Entech Electronics, Escatec, Flex, Jabil, In-Tech Electronics, Micron, Motorola, MPS, Plexus, Renesas, Sandisk and Siemens, and 18 local ATE players – ABW Technologies, ACA, Aemulus, BioEnergy, ChinTech, Elsoft, Greatech, Ideal Vision, Mi Technovation, MMS, NSW Automation, Pentamaster, QES, Sophic Automation, THMY, TT Vision, ViTrox and Walta Engineering – showcasing their capabilities to potential partners – to explore potential collaboration. Among the attended MNCs, ams Osram, B. Braun and Sandisk presented their localisation opportunities.
The Chief Minister of Penang, Right Honorable Mr. Chow Kon Yeow said, “The key to its success lies in collaboration. When MNCs and local players work closely together — through knowledge sharing, supplier development and technology collaboration — it not only strengthens supply chain resilience but also ensures that local industries continue to grow alongside global industry leaders.”
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global automated test equipment market was valued at USD 5.41 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 9.72 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 7.10%, with Asia Pacific accounting for more than half of global market.
Penang currently hosts more than 20 local ATE companies, with at least 10 listed on Bursa Malaysia and a combined market capitalisation of approximately RM14 billion, supported by over 80 local precision engineering firms. Reflecting the strength of this ecosystem, the Machinery and Equipment sector has remained among the top three contributors to Penang’s approved manufacturing investments since 2020, recording RM25 billion between 2020 and 2025, representing over 40% of Malaysia’s total approved investments in the sector during the same period.
On 10th March 2026, MITI has indicated that they have identified 13 local companies as potential candidates for development towards the NSS’s “10+100 local champions” target. This target refers to developing 10 companies aiming for annual revenue exceeding USD1 billion (which is equivalent to RM3.9 billion) and 100 companies targeting at least RM1 billion in revenue. Notably, three of Penang local ATE companies have surpassed the RM500 million annual revenue in 2025.
Through initiatives such as the Penang ATE Campus, the state aims to deepen industry collaboration, strengthen supply chain resilience and create new growth opportunities for local companies within the global semiconductor industry in alignment with the NSS.
