A raft of companies has been shifting operations to Malaysia from Singapore in recent months, illustrating a broader trend of global mobility that has firms seeking jurisdictions with lower costs, tax incentives and access to larger markets.
Apparel giant H&M
announced in May that it would relocate its Southeast Asian headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, affecting 78 positions. Meanwhile Heineken said in March that it would move large-scale production for its Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore to regional breweries in Malaysia and Vietnam.
“These moves are significant and mark a clear acceleration,” said Alwyn Lim, associate professor of sociology at Singapore Management University. “Since early 2026 we’ve seen a visible wave of such companies moving operations to Malaysia … This is more pronounced than 2025 because of an alignment of policy signals and cost pressures,” Lim told CNBC by email.
Lim said the firms were “acting on substantial cost arbitrage on rents, wages, and operations.”
Companies moving some operations from Singapore to Malaysia is part of a larger global trend of firms reorienting their manufacturing and supply chain networks, Lim noted.
Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/11/global-mobility-firms-move-operations-from-singapore-to-malaysia.html