Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park Is Taking Shape. What Will Turn It Into an Industrial Ecosystem?
By Ahmad Safwan
Founder of ShiftPerak
Tanjong Malim is entering an important new stage of industrial growth.
The recently launched Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park covers about 178.8 hectares, carries an estimated gross development value of RM1.4 billion and is targeted for full completion by the third quarter of 2029. Its first phase covers 41.6 hectares, with around half already taken up since development began in June 2025. BERNAMA
Yantai Yatong Precision Mechanical
RM160 Million
Factory investment at the park.
Ningbo Fresh Technology
RM263 Million
Expansion of Tanjong Malim operations.
That is significant. But attracting factories is only the beginning.
The bigger economic question is:
What will turn Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park from a successful industrial development into a connected industrial ecosystem?
Because an industrial park can provide land, utilities and infrastructure. An industrial ecosystem creates something more. It creates connections between companies, suppliers, talent, technology, institutions and services that make the location increasingly valuable as more participants join.
Tanjong Malim Already Has Something Many New Parks Do Not
It is not starting from zero. Tanjong Malim already has a major automotive base around Proton and the wider Automotive High Technology Valley.
New automotive activity continues to develop around it. In August 2026, EP Manufacturing opened a RM9.5 million chassis-component facility at AHTV to produce components for selected Proton models. The area has also attracted plans from BYD, which announced manufacturing activity in Tanjong Malim as part of the growing automotive cluster.
So the opportunity is bigger than simply filling industrial lots. Tanjong Malim has the potential to build density.
Density Builds Ecosystems:
- More manufacturers
- More component suppliers
- More engineering capability
- More technical jobs
- More logistics
- More supporting services
- More specialised knowledge
Factories Alone Do Not Create an Ecosystem
Imagine ten manufacturers operating beside one another. They may share the same road. The same utilities. The same postcode.
But if they buy most of their services elsewhere, recruit independently, struggle to find local technical capability and rarely collaborate, they are still largely ten separate businesses.
Physical proximity helps. But the economic value becomes much stronger when proximity creates connections.
An incoming manufacturer needs a specialised engineering capability.
A Perak company may already provide it.
Several tenants need workers with the same technical skill.
A local training institution could respond.
A manufacturer has an automation problem.
A tech company or university team may have the expertise to solve it.
A new investor needs logistics, compliance and recruitment.
Local businesses may already provide those services.
An industrial ecosystem makes those connections easier.
The Opportunity Starts With Industrial Linkages
One of the biggest benefits from industrial investment should be what happens around the investment. A RM200 million factory creates direct economic activity. But it can also create recurring demand for:
Local companies need to know:
- What capabilities are required?
- What standards must they meet?
- What certifications matter?
- What volume is required?
- Who is buying?
And incoming companies need to know:
- What capabilities already exist locally?
The more effectively those two sides connect, the greater the potential economic spillover.
Supplier Participation Should Go Beyond a Business Directory
A conventional supplier directory answers: “Which businesses exist?”
That is useful, but limited. An industrial company normally needs a more specific answer: “Who can meet this requirement?”
That requires understanding capabilities rather than simply company names. For example, two companies may both describe themselves as engineering businesses. But one may specialise in precision machining. Another may specialise in factory automation.
The important information is therefore:
- • Capability
- • Industry experience
- • Certification
- • Technology
- • Capacity
- • Location
- • Customers served
- • Ability to meet industrial standards
The objective should not simply be to create hundreds of listings. It should be to make relevant industrial capability easier to discover.
Talent Should Develop Alongside Investment
New industrial investment also creates new demand for people. Engineers. Technicians. Production specialists. Automation talent. Quality professionals. Data and software skills. Maintenance capability. Managers.
The challenge is that industrial development can move faster than talent development. A company may arrive today and need hundreds of people within the next two years. Universities and training institutions need enough visibility into that demand to respond.
A stronger ecosystem connects:
This is different from simply publishing job vacancies. The more strategic question is: What skills will the Tanjong Malim industrial ecosystem need next? If multiple companies are beginning to require the same capabilities, that becomes useful information for universities, TVET institutions and policymakers.
Technology and Industry Need Ways to Meet
A hi-tech park should also create opportunities for technology adoption. Manufacturers increasingly deal with areas such as automation, machine vision, industrial IoT, robotics, data analytics, energy management, cybersecurity, digital twins, AI, and predictive maintenance.
But manufacturers do not necessarily know every technology provider capable of solving these problems. Likewise, technology companies may not understand the operational problems inside factories. The ecosystem becomes more valuable when it can connect:
Industrial Problem
Relevant Capability
Potential Solution
That could involve local technology firms. Universities. Startups. Engineering companies. Research organisations. Or larger technology partners. The goal is not to force collaboration. It is to make useful collaboration easier to happen.
Shared Capability Can Be More Powerful Than Every Company Building Alone
Mature industrial ecosystems often become more attractive because companies can access things they do not need to build independently. That might include specialised facilities, testing capability, technical expertise, training resources, research support, business services, innovation programmes, or professional networks.
This matters particularly for smaller companies. A multinational may have the resources to build almost everything internally. A growing SME may not.
Access to a stronger ecosystem can therefore lower the barrier for smaller firms to participate in higher-value industries. That could become particularly important if Tanjong Malim wants local businesses to grow alongside large investors.
The Digital Layer Can Make the Physical Ecosystem More Useful
Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park will primarily be a physical development. But many of the connections around it begin digitally. That does not mean building one giant application. It could begin much more simply:
For investors
Make it easier to understand industry positioning, infrastructure, existing ecosystem, talent, suppliers, support, and the investment journey.
For tenants
Make it easier to discover relevant services, local capabilities, institutional support, talent and training.
For local businesses
Make it easier to understand emerging industry demand, capability requirements, and pathways into the ecosystem.
For talent & institutions
Make it easier to see skill requirements, industrial demand, and industry collaboration opportunities.
The Ecosystem Itself Can Become Part of the Investment Proposition
An investor does not evaluate only the industrial land. They may also want to know:
Those questions affect location decisions. So a strong ecosystem is not merely something created after investment arrives. It can help attract investment in the first place.
The investment proposition becomes:
“You are not simply locating inside an industrial park. You are locating inside an industrial environment that can support your business.”
Local Economic Value Should Be Visible
There is another question worth considering. How will we know whether the wider ecosystem is working? The easiest metrics are investment value, number of factories, and jobs created. Those are important. But they do not tell the whole story.
Over time, other questions become useful. This creates a different view of industrial success.
Standard Measure
How much investment came in?
Ecosystem Measure
How much capability grew around it?
- How much industrial demand is being fulfilled by Perak suppliers?
- Which local companies are entering higher-value supply chains?
- What capabilities are still missing locally?
- Which skills are becoming difficult to source?
- How much collaboration is happening between industry and institutions?
- Are new service businesses emerging around the cluster?
- Are local businesses upgrading because of new industrial demand?
- Where is economic value still leaking outside the state?
From Industrial Park to Industrial Ecosystem
The development of Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park is already attracting investment interest, and the wider Tanjong Malim area is developing deeper automotive activity. The physical investment is important. But the bigger opportunity is what can grow around it.
The stronger those connections become, the more difficult the ecosystem becomes to replicate elsewhere. That is an important advantage.
Land can be developed somewhere else. Factories can move. Incentives can be matched. But a mature industrial ecosystem, built from accumulated suppliers, talent, expertise, relationships and knowledge, takes much longer to reproduce.
Building More Than Industrial Capacity
Tanjong Malim Hi-Tech Park is still at an early enough stage for the ecosystem question to matter. The opportunity is not to build every possible platform or programme immediately. It is to make sure that as physical development progresses, the connections around it develop as well.
Industrial land attracts businesses. Infrastructure allows them to operate. But an ecosystem helps them connect, find capability, develop talent, solve problems, create new business and ultimately: grow together.
If Tanjong Malim can achieve that, the impact of the Hi-Tech Park could extend far beyond the companies located inside its boundaries. It could help build a stronger industrial base around Tanjong Malim and create wider opportunities for businesses, talent and institutions across Perak. That is where the real economic multiplier may be.
About the Author
Ahmad Safwan
Founder, ShiftPerak
Safwan writes about Perak’s digital maturity, economic development and how practical digitalisation can create stronger outcomes for businesses, organisations and major developments.
What Should Tanjong Malim’s Industrial Ecosystem Look Like?
If you are involved in manufacturing, industrial development, investment, technology, talent development or the wider Tanjong Malim business community, I’d be interested to hear your perspective.