What the plan covers
PAS used the Kuala Lumpur forum to stitch together a growth story for its four-state SG4 grouping, centering on minerals, chips, clean energy and Islamic finance. The party said the states inked memorandums of understanding with investors at the event, naming China Energy International Group among them.
The mineral piece is key. Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said SG4 accounts for roughly 70% of Malaysia's rare-earth endowment and argued the goal should reach beyond selling ore. "The objective should not be limited to extracting and exporting raw materials," said Samsuri, who is also Terengganu's chief minister. Where deposits make commercial sense, he said the states should move into processing, making advanced materials, transferring technology and adding downstream manufacturing, while bringing local firms into the mix.
Infrastructure and finance to match
To turn that pitch into plants and jobs, PAS sketched transport upgrades: a road link tying Kedah's Kulim Hi-Tech Park - a major semiconductor hub - to a seaport on Kelantan's east coast, a dedicated cargo airport in Kedah to speed chip and electronics exports, and capacity boosts at ports in Terengganu and Kelantan. The aim is to make it easier for manufacturers and logistics companies to set up across the four states.
On capital formation, the party wants to study an Islamic finance hub that channels Shariah-compliant money into SG4 projects. It also floated a clean-energy industrial cluster that could ultimately back emerging segments like green hydrogen and green ammonia.
Politics and partnerships
PAS is working to broaden its appeal and burnish its economic credentials as it targets a role in national governance. It leads the opposition Perikatan Nasional alliance and, in Malaysia's fractured political map, could become the heavyweight partner in a future coalition. "Perikatan stands 'a good chance, or even a better chance' at improving its performance in the next general election that is due by early 2028," Samsuri told reporters at the forum.
Foreign capitals are already gaming out what a change would mean. Samsuri said European diplomats recently asked him how a different government might shape ties with the European Union. "Of course we want to work together, and we want to have a mutual benefit for both parties, not just the EU companies, but for Malaysia as well," said Samsuri, an aerospace engineer who earned his PhD at the University of Leeds in the UK. Asked if he could be PAS's pick for prime minister, he sidestepped: "We'll come to that when the time comes."
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Execution risk and the investor angle
Turning potential into paychecks is the hurdle. "The real test is not what these states possess, but how effectively they can turn their potential into investment, quality jobs, higher incomes and better opportunities for their people," said Fazli Halim, who serves as the chief executive of the digital marketing agency Digievo. The four PAS-led states rank among Malaysia's least developed and lean heavily on federal allocations or oil receipts to grow.
That is why PAS and its allies also want to revisit how development money flows. Samsuri proposed an "interstate fiscal and development equalization formula" to make allocations more transparent and less prone to politics. He also noted friction between layers of government: "We cannot deny that there are also some competing and conflicting authorities between state and federal agencies," he said, adding that if the opposition takes federal office it will work to resolve those clashes.
In plain English: if PAS converts resource wealth and chip capacity into processing, logistics and green industry, investment could tilt toward SG4 and its supply chains. One contextual note from recent state-by-state snapshots: The federal government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition directly administers the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, underscoring where fiscal authority is concentrated today.
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