KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): The government expects to announce the next batch of successful applicants under Arm Ltd's semiconductor design access programme within the next three weeks, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said on Tuesday.

Akmal said he will co-chair a meeting with Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani on Thursday to decide the next batch of applications for access to Arm's Neoverse Compute Subsystems (CSS) and Arm Flexible Access (AFA) programmes.

"We will decide on the next list of recipients based on the assessments that have already been carried out. However, the announcement will only be made after all the administrative processes have been completed," he told reporters on the sidelines of the AFA briefing organised by Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corp (Sidec). 

Applicants are assessed based on established criteria, including their technical capabilities and commitments to create jobs, utilise the local ecosystem and contribute to the growth of Malaysia's semiconductor industry, the minister noted.

"I expect that within the next two to three weeks, we will announce the next list of token recipients, subject to the completion of the administrative process," he added.

The government has allocated 25 AFA tokens for start-ups and smaller chip design firms, and seven CSS tokens for larger, more established companies under its US$250 million, 10-year partnership with Arm.

GreatAsic Technology Sdn Bhd, SkyeChip Bhd (KL:SKYECHIP) and Oppstar Bhd (KL:OPPSTAR) are among the first recipients. GreatAsic received both AFA and CSS access, while SkyeChip and Oppstar were awarded AFA access.

Akmal said 22 AFA tokens and four CSS tokens remain available for allocation.

AFA provides companies with early, lower-cost access to Arm's chip designs, enabling them to experiment, develop and test products without paying full licensing fees upfront. CSS, meanwhile, comprises pre-designed processor building blocks that enable companies to accelerate chip development. 

In addition, Akmal said the government's partnership with Arm will also strengthen Malaysia's semiconductor talent pipeline through Arm's Arm On Demand training programme.

"To date, we have recorded 1,530 participants in the Arm On Demand programme. Through this collaboration, we aim to increase that number to 10,000 over the next few years," he said.

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GreatAsic, SkyeChip and Oppstar get access to Arm's design tech