ASEAN's Semiconductor Ascent: A Blueprint for Global South Technological Sovereignty

The Strategic Reorientation of ASEAN’s Economic Vision

In a decisive move that signals a profound shift in global economic dynamics, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has embarked on an ambitious journey to transform itself from a region known for low value-added manufacturing into a high-technology semiconductor powerhouse. The recent development of the ASEAN Framework for Integrated Semiconductor Supply Chain (AFISS) under Malaysia’s chairmanship represents a watershed moment in regional economic cooperation. This framework, conceived as one of ASEAN’s Priority Economic Deliverables, aims to position the bloc as a unified production base for semiconductors, targeting a market projected to reach a staggering USD 1 trillion by 2030. The timing of this strategic pivot couldn’t be more significant, occurring as the world grapples with supply chain disruptions and increasing technological nationalism from Western powers.

Since 2020, ASEAN has attracted over USD 60 billion in semiconductor foreign direct investment, with Malaysia and Singapore emerging as regional leaders. The region accounted for an impressive 25% of global semiconductor exports in 2023 and attracted 12% of global greenfield investment in semiconductors between 2021-2024, representing nearly half of total flows to the developing world. This marks a dramatic increase from the mere 2% share recorded between 2015-2018. However, the current landscape reveals significant disparities within ASEAN, with advanced wafer fabrication largely confined to Singapore while other member states primarily engage in assembly, testing, and packaging activities. Malaysia alone accounts for 13% of global ATP output, demonstrating the region’s existing capabilities while highlighting the need for more balanced development.

The Geopolitical Context: Multipolarity in Action

The semiconductor push occurs against a backdrop of significant geopolitical realignments, exemplified by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi. President Xi’s call for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” and “inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalisation” resonates deeply with ASEAN’s semiconductor ambitions. This diplomatic engagement, coming after the United States’ intervention in Venezuela, underscores how middle powers and developing nations are increasingly seeking strategic flexibility rather than alignment with traditional power blocs. Uruguay’s pragmatic approach, focusing on trade and investment rather than ideological alignment, mirrors ASEAN’s own strategy of maintaining diversified partnerships in an increasingly fragmented global order.

President Orsi’s delegation of 150 business leaders to China emphasizes the concrete economic benefits driving these new partnerships. With China being Uruguay’s top agricultural export destination and the relationship yielding a $187.1 million trade surplus in the first half of 2025, the material basis for South-South cooperation has never been stronger. Similarly, ASEAN’s engagement with Taiwan through the New Southbound Policy demonstrates how technological collaboration is transcending traditional diplomatic constraints, creating new pathways for knowledge transfer and capacity building.

The Imperative of Technological Self-Determination

The Western-dominated semiconductor industry has long served as a tool of technological colonialism, concentrating advanced manufacturing capabilities in a handful of developed economies while relegating developing nations to lower-value activities. ASEAN’s strategic pivot represents a bold assertion of technological sovereignty—a declaration that Global South nations will no longer accept peripheral roles in the global value chain. The AFISS framework’s focus on harmonizing regulatory policies, mapping regional strengths and gaps, advancing technology innovation, and promoting talent development constitutes a comprehensive blueprint for decolonizing semiconductor production.

What makes ASEAN’s approach particularly revolutionary is its recognition that true technological independence requires addressing the entire ecosystem, not just manufacturing capabilities. The framework’s emphasis on talent development and mobility acknowledges that human capital formation is the bedrock of sustainable innovation. This stands in stark contrast to Western models that often treat developing nations as mere production sites while retaining control over research, development, and intellectual property. ASEAN’s vision of creating a “single production base” represents a sophisticated understanding that regional integration, rather than fragmentation, provides the best defense against external domination.

Taiwan’s Role: A Case Study in South-South Cooperation

Taiwan’s potential involvement in ASEAN’s semiconductor development offers a powerful example of how South-South cooperation can challenge Western technological hegemony. With its world-leading semiconductor ecosystem, Taiwan possesses precisely the expertise that ASEAN needs to advance beyond assembly and testing operations. The potential collaboration in knowledge transfer, technology sharing, and talent development represents a model of partnership based on mutual benefit rather than exploitation.

Taiwan’s experience in establishing science parks, research centers, and business-friendly environments for capital-intensive industries provides invaluable lessons for ASEAN nations. More importantly, Taiwan’s success story demonstrates that technological excellence is not the exclusive domain of Western nations. This collaboration challenges the neo-colonial narrative that developing nations must remain perpetually dependent on Western technology transfers. Instead, it shows how Global South nations can leverage each other’s strengths to create alternative technological paradigms.

The Hypocrisy of “Rules-Based Order” in Semiconductor Governance

The Western narrative of a “rules-based international order” reveals its inherent hypocrisy when examined through the lens of semiconductor governance. While Western powers preach free trade and open markets, they simultaneously impose export controls, sanctions, and other protectionist measures to maintain their technological dominance. The recent CHIPS Act in the United States, while framed as a national security measure, essentially constitutes industrial policy of the sort that Western institutions have historically condemned when practiced by developing nations.

ASEAN’s semiconductor initiative represents a courageous challenge to this double standard. By developing their own regional framework rather than waiting for permission or guidance from Western powers, ASEAN nations are asserting their right to determine their own economic destinies. The non-binding nature of AFISS demonstrates a sophisticated understanding that genuine cooperation cannot be imposed through coercive mechanisms but must emerge from shared interests and voluntary alignment. This stands in sharp contrast to the conditionalities and structural adjustments often demanded by Western-dominated international financial institutions.

Towards a Truly Multipolar Technological Ecosystem

The convergence of ASEAN’s semiconductor ambitions with China’s vision of a multipolar world order represents a historical opportunity to reshape global technological governance. President Xi’s emphasis on “inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalisation” provides the philosophical foundation for a more equitable distribution of technological capabilities. Unlike Western globalization, which has often meant the concentration of advanced industries in developed economies while relegating the Global South to resource extraction and low-end manufacturing, this new vision promises genuine partnership and mutual advancement.

Uruguay’s engagement with China, though focused on agricultural exports, exemplifies the kind of complementary economic relationships that can characterize South-South cooperation in the semiconductor era. Just as Uruguay exports commodities while importing machinery and electronics from China, ASEAN nations can develop specialized roles within an integrated semiconductor ecosystem that benefits all participants. This model of cooperation based on comparative advantage and mutual respect offers a compelling alternative to the hierarchical North-South relationships that have characterized the global economy for centuries.

The Human Dimension: Beyond Economic Numbers

At its core, ASEAN’s semiconductor push represents a profound commitment to human development. By focusing on high-technology industries, the region is investing in the intellectual capital of its people rather than treating them as cheap labor for assembly lines. The emphasis on talent development and mobility within the AFISS framework acknowledges that true prosperity comes from empowering individuals with skills and knowledge that allow them to participate fully in the global economy.

This human-centered approach stands in stark contrast to the dehumanizing logic of neoliberal globalization, which often treats workers as interchangeable commodities. ASEAN’s vision recognizes that technological advancement must serve human flourishing rather than corporate profits or geopolitical dominance. The framework’s attention to creating sustainable and resilient ecosystems reflects an understanding that economic development must be holistic, addressing not just production capabilities but also environmental sustainability and social equity.

Conclusion: The Dawn of a New Technological Era

ASEAN’s semiconductor initiative marks a definitive break with the colonial patterns of technological dependency that have characterized North-South relations for generations. By taking control of their technological destiny through regional cooperation and South-South partnerships, ASEAN nations are demonstrating that the Global South possesses both the vision and capability to shape the future of critical industries. This represents not just an economic strategy but a profound political statement about the right of all nations to participate as equals in the technological revolution.

The timing of this initiative, coinciding with China’s advocacy for a multipolar world and Uruguay’s pragmatic engagement with alternative partners, suggests that we are witnessing the emergence of a new global consensus. This consensus rejects the hierarchical divisions of the colonial era and embraces a future where technological capability is distributed more equitably across nations and regions. While significant challenges remain—including infrastructure gaps, talent shortages, and the need for greater regional integration—ASEAN’s bold vision points the way toward a more just and inclusive global technological order.

As Western powers continue to weaponize technology through sanctions and export controls, initiatives like AFISS offer a powerful alternative based on cooperation rather than coercion, partnership rather than patronage. The success of this endeavor will determine not just ASEAN’s economic future but the broader possibility of creating a world where technological progress serves humanity as a whole rather than reinforcing existing power imbalances. In this sense, the semiconductor chips being produced in ASEAN factories represent not just electronic components but building blocks of a more equitable global order.