KUALA LUMPUR, 28 July 2022 – In the presence of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and Microsoft Malaysia, Silicon Valley based Seeloz Inc. (Seeloz) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (CREST) to launch Empower Malaysia, a national initiative to boost resilience within major value chains in Malaysia through AI-Driven Supply Chain Automation. This event is supported by MIDA, while the initiative is in collaboration with the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCham) and major academic institutions in Malaysia including Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Taylor’s University and University Malaysia of Computer Science and Engineering (UniMY).
Empower Malaysia will be centered around two key objectives:
- Upskill 30,000 Malaysia talents in AI and AI-Driven Supply Chain Automation.
- Boost resilience of key value chains within the Malaysian economy through AI-driven supply chain automation. This covers both national infrastructure value chains such as energy & utilities and major manufacturing sectors in Malaysia including automotive, Electrical & Electronics (E&E), palm oil, medical devices & medical supplies.
Aimed at enabling Malaysia to leapfrog regional competition, Empower Malaysia will revamp the country’s ability to attract previously untapped foreign direct investments in the manufacturing sector.
“Malaysia is well-positioned to become one of the major manufacturing hubs globally. In a post-pandemic world where global value chains are being redefined to optimize multinational, and regional manufacturers’ ability to cope with sky rocketing logistics costs and supply chain disruptions, we’re proud to partner with the Government of Malaysia and key stakeholders across both industry and academia to position the country as the regional hub for autonomous supply chains and Lights-Out manufacturing,” said Amir Razelan, Cofounder & COO, Seeloz Inc. “Through upskilling Malaysian supply chain operators in Supply Chain Automation and aligning major academic institutions in Malaysia on closely collaborating with Seeloz to further advance Seeloz’ cutting-edge Autonomous Requirements Planning (ARP) technology, Empower Malaysia will be the starting point for us to elevate Malaysia to becoming a global leader in end-to-end supply chain resilience.”
One of the key objectives under Empower Malaysia is the formation of a comprehensive ecosystem that will operationalize the Memorandum of Cooperation on semiconductor supply chain resilience that was signed between Malaysia and the US in May 2022.
“The manufacturing sector is one of the key contributors to Malaysia’s GDP and it’s important to identify key technological advancements as well as upskill talents that will help build resilience within the sector. We welcome Empower Malaysia as it aligns with our existing collaboration with Seeloz to support Malaysia’s digital ambitions,” said Datin Lim Bee Wah, General Manager, Small, Medium & Corporate Group, Microsoft Malaysia.
“Malaysia is an ideal location for industry players looking to newly introduce or ramp up their capacity in this part of the world and also beyond; especially for Asia Pacific”.
MIDA recognizes that new technology plays a key role in Malaysia’s progress within the global value chain. Therefore, Empower Malaysia showcases an important collaboration model spearheaded by the private sector and well-aligned with Malaysia’s government objectives. In line with the rapid evolution of the global economy, the next frontier for the industry players is to expand the integration of equipment, systems and networks within their business locations, especially their manufacturing plants to further connect with suppliers, customers and broader business communities..” said Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman, MIDA CEO.
As part of the initiative, Seeloz will also be working in partnership with all stakeholders for this initiative including MIDA to conduct the Empower Series. Furthermore, Seeloz will collaborate with all stakeholders in challenging graduate students at participating universities with advanced R&D projects pushing the limits of Seeloz’ ARP technology and further advancing the state-of-the-art of supply chain automation.
“Empower Malaysia is a definitive step forward for Malaysian manufacturers, introducing a comprehensive platform that spearheads supply chain transformation without neglecting the need for an accompanying wave of aggressive talent development.” said Jaffri Ibrahim, CEO of CREST. “In line with our aspirations under Malaysia’s Digital Economy Blueprint and AIRmap, we hope to further propel collaboration between the participating technology providers and academic institutes to gradually localize this groundbreaking technology and reach a level where our manufacturing industries and enterprises are transformed towards success in both the regional and global economy through technologies predominantly developed by Malaysian talents.”
