Bangladesh Showcases Growing Semiconductor Strength at Malaysia BSIA Roadshow 2025

In November 2025, Bangladesh demonstrated its emerging semiconductor industry capabilities at the Bangladesh Semiconductor Industry Association (BSIA) Roadshow held in Penang, Malaysia. This three-day international event, from November 11 to 13, spotlighted Bangladesh’s growing expertise in semiconductor design and sought to foster collaboration with Malaysia’s well-established semiconductor manufacturing sector.

Highlighting Bangladesh’s Semiconductor Capabilities

The BSIA Roadshow 2025 aimed to present Bangladesh as a rising hub in the global semiconductor ecosystem, especially in chip design innovation, analog and RF design, photonics, AI-driven design automation, testing, and power devices. Bangladesh’s semiconductor sector, while still in its early stages compared to regional giants, has made notable progress in workforce development and export growth.

Currently, Bangladesh boasts a robust talent pool with over 750,000 ICT professionals and approximately 5,000 electrical and electronics engineering graduates annually, including around 1,500 specialized in very large scale integration (VLSI) chip design — a crucial skill for semiconductor development. These strengths underpin the country’s ambition to expand from design services into more complex semiconductor manufacturing phases in the coming years.

Strategic Partnership with Malaysia

Malaysia is recognized as one of Asia’s most advanced centers for semiconductor packaging and testing, with a semiconductor market projected at $19.41 billion in 2025. However, it faces a severe shortage of skilled semiconductor professionals, estimated at 60,000 workers by 2030. Bangladesh aims to fill this gap by offering cost-effective, skilled design talent, complementing Malaysia’s manufacturing expertise.

The BSIA Roadshow served as a platform to establish business-to-business and government partnerships, encourage joint semiconductor design and packaging projects, and promote training and intellectual property sharing. High-level attendees included the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, and representatives from Malaysian government agencies and industry leaders.

Opportunities and Economic Impact

Bangladesh’s semiconductor sector generated around $8 million in export earnings in 2024, primarily from design services provided by firms like Ulkasemi, Neural Semiconductor, and Prime Silicon. The BSIA has set ambitious goals to increase semiconductor exports to $1 billion by 2030 through intensified workforce training, policy support, and research and development.

With growing capabilities in semiconductor design and engineering, Bangladesh is well-positioned to support Malaysia’s upstream semiconductor needs, reducing Malaysia’s reliance on external markets for front-end design and prototyping. This collaboration aligns with Malaysia’s national agenda to enhance its regional technology leadership and expand its electronics industry footprint globally.

Challenges and Future Outlook

Despite promising developments, Bangladesh’s semiconductor industry remains nascent, lacking large-scale fabrication and testing facilities. Experts emphasize the need for targeted government policies, investment in education and infrastructure, and sustained global partnerships to build a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem. The country’s experience in IT outsourcing and freelancing provides a strong foundation for this growth.

Bangladesh’s strategic approach prioritizes expanding semiconductor design and testing capabilities first, with ambitions to gradually develop chip packaging, assembly, and manufacturing capacities. This phased development mirrors successful models in Vietnam, Malaysia, and India, which combined government incentives with industry-academia collaboration to establish competitive semiconductor sectors.

Ultimately, the BSIA Roadshow 2025 in Malaysia symbolizes a significant step in regional cooperation, positioning Bangladesh as a trusted innovation partner in the global semiconductor value chain while supporting Malaysia’s industry growth and talent demands.

Written by Deepak Periyasamy.

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