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.