KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): Malaysia has attracted 78,138 highly skilled foreign tech talent as of Sept 30 through interventions under the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap (Super) 2021-2030.

Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohamad Yusof Apdal said the achievement stemmed from the ministry's focus on Intervention 6 under the road map, which accelerates visa approvals to facilitate the entry of foreign tech talent into the country.

He said efforts to strengthen the start-up ecosystem also included improvements to the funding framework to enhance efficiency and attract high-quality investments.

“As of Sept 30, these efforts had contributed to more than RM51.17 billion in investments flowing into start-ups, providing capital to support their growth and scaling within the ecosystem,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

He was replying to a question from S Kesavan (Pakatan Harapan-Sungai Siput) on government efforts to attract foreign talent, investors and high-tech start-ups to the country.

Mohamad Yusof said 5,016 local and foreign start-ups had registered on the MYStartup single-window platform, including companies from Singapore, the UK and the US.

On future plans, he said the government would continue with SUPER 2.0 for 2026 to 2030 to ensure continuity in funding, attract high-quality investments and improve local start-ups' access to global markets.

Replying to a supplementary question from Kesavan on the reach of the start-up ecosystem beyond the Klang Valley, including in Perak, Mohamad Yusof said the government continued to ensure inclusive participation nationwide through various programmes and online platforms.

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