KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 10): Malaysia aims to deliver 500,000 affordable homes in four years, halfway towards its overall target of one million homes by 2025, by leveraging modular construction technology to accelerate delivery.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said technology must help the country deliver homes more efficiently and at lower cost without compromising safety, quality and liveability.
“Technology must help us deliver homes more efficiently, without compromising safety, quality and liveability, and I would add, cost,” he said at the opening of International Construction Week 2026 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) on Tuesday (Nov 10).
Modular construction involves fabricating building components in a controlled factory environment before transporting them to construction sites for assembly.
Under the 13th Malaysia Plan, the government has mandated that major government and public higher education infrastructure projects valued at RM100 million and above achieve a minimum industrialised building system (IBS) content of 70%.
Anwar said Malaysia must also strengthen its domestic manufacturing and technological capabilities in modular construction, rather than remain a consumer of imported technologies.
“It is imperative that we develop an ecosystem in which Malaysian companies are not merely users of modular technology but active participants in its development, production and commercialisation,” he said.
He said the transition would require stronger domestic manufacturing capabilities, investment, market demand, skilled talent and an enabling policy and regulatory environment.
Anwar also stressed the importance of maintaining competitive tender processes and good governance, saying greater transparency could help the government reduce unnecessary costs and channel more resources towards development.
He called for local contractors, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to be given access to the knowledge, training, technology and business opportunities needed to participate in the evolving construction ecosystem.