PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is looking to accelerate the country’s journey towards becoming a digital economy, with several initiatives being announced including making the country a global test bed for emerging technologies and innovation.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the digital economy, which had been growing faster than the overall economy, was key to building income for the people.
“The initiatives will continue to build on the national aim and vision of shared prosperity, utilising digital technologies for the social and economic uplifting of Malaysians,” Dr Mahathir said in his closing remarks at the 30th MSC Implementation Council Meeting (ICM), here, on Wednesday.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia, being a global test bed for artificial intelligence, data analytics and augmented reality, would be fueled by a powerful talent pipeline, comprising educators, industry and government.
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), which will lead the implementation of the initiatives, said the global test bed initiative was aimed at attracting next-generation emerging technologies to innovate in Malaysia.
MDEC will accelerate development in the fintech, blockchain, and drone sectors by attracting global digital talents and interest from investors.
MDEC said, for example, a pilot dronetech test bed initiative would be implemented to leverage on rapidly increasing adoption rates around the globe.
“The dronetech sector is estimated to generate a value of US$127 billion (RM532.7 billion) by 2025.
“Currently, several Malaysian companies are already global leaders within the international dronetech market,” MDEC said.
Equally critical in boosting the digital economy is the development of Malaysian tech talent, Dr Mahathir said.
To address the growing demand for a digital-savvy workforce, MDEC has proposed a new digital talent development strategy framework.
It is designed to mobilise and coordinate the end-to-end nurturing of Malaysia’s tech talent both locally and on the international stage.
This framework will coincide with the creation of the Cross-Ministerial Cabinet Committee, it said.
The ICM was chaired again by Dr Mahathir for the first time in 16 years.
The discussions included the progress of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiatives, most of which have delivered significant growth and achieved milestones in technological innovation and foreign investment.
“The last time I chaired the ICM was in 2003, 16 years ago.
“At that time, Malaysia had already forged ahead to transform Malaysia into a regional technology leader,” Dr Mahathir said.
MSC had grown in strength, netting a total investment of RM325 billion, of which 44 per cent were foreign investments, he added.
Dr Mahathir said the government had proposed to set up the National Digital Inclusion Council to focus on creating digital economy income opportunities for the people.
The council will be headed by Dr Mahathir and consist of representatives from more than 11 ministries.