UKABC Chair Moderates Panel on Smart Manufacturing and ASEAN's Digital Industrial Future at the 3rd ASEAN Investment Forum 2025

Lord Vaizey, Chair of the UK-ASEAN Business Council, moderated a panel discussion at the 3rd ASEAN Investment Forum 2025. Lord Vaizey’s panel focused on Smart Manufacturing and ASEAN’s Digital Industrial Future, an area where ASEAN is forging ahead.

The expert panel discussed:

• How skills, connectivity and the regulatory framework are vital to underpin smart manufacturing and digital growth.

• The role that better connectivity plays in ensuring information in factories is connected, enabling real-time data-driven decisions.

• That smart factories need a different type of labour - and while this might change a job role, it won’t replace jobs.

• Government policy, including Malaysia’s semiconductor strategy and incentives that support growth, cost, space to grow and talent.

• How robotics is changing manufacturing and smart manufacturing - the manufacturing sector should view robotics not as cost reduction but capability improvement.

• The roles of digital twins and real-time simulation in designing and future-proofing the factory of tomorrow.

Lord Vaizey’s excellent panel featured:

• Tirta Mursitama, Deputy Minister for Investment Cooperation, Indonesia

• Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Investment Development Authority

• Mahadevan Balasubramaniam, Head of Business Development and Government Affairs, Siemens Malaysia

• Poh Leng Eu, Senior Director, Package Innovation, Chief Technology Office, NXP Semiconductors

• Sze Yuan Cheong, CEO & Co-Founder, Devol Robots