MDEC AT THE HELM OF DIGITALISING MALAYSIA

As the country pursues its digital agenda, MDEC is on track with its strategic initiatives to achieve the country’s digital aspirations through Malaysia Digital and MyDIGITAL.

Malaysia Digital

Recognising the power of digitalisation as one of the key drivers of economic progress, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched Malaysia Digital (MD) – a new initiative which will succeed MSC Malaysia, the ort to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy. MD is a national strategic initiative aimed at encouraging and attracting enterprises, talents and investments whilst empowering Malaysian businesses and citizens to play a signi cant role in the global digital economy.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob graced the event and o ciated the launch of MD.

Driven by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) through MDEC, MD is designed and implemented to address three strategic priorities, which include driving digital adoption among aspiring young entrepreneurs, companies and the people; supporting the local tech companies as Malaysian Champions and accomplished international players; and, drawing highvalue digital investments into the country. In an e ort to achieve these aspirations, MDEC will be introducing two initial Malaysia Digital Catalytic Programmes (PEMANGKIN), namely DE Rantau and Digital Trade. The execution of MD is being carried through the Malaysia Digital Coordination Committee (MD-CC), which will serve to coordinate the governance and operations of the initiative, including awarding MD status to organisations.

DE Rantau is a programme to boost digital adoption, promote professional mobility and drive tourism across the country, targeted at establishing Malaysia as the preferred Digital Nomad Hub. Meanwhile, Digital Trade, drives interoperability and greater harmonisation of standards and regulatory approaches and facilitates domestic and international trade.

“The digital transformation of the nation and the citizens will continue to be the priority of K-KOMM’s initiatives, as I believe that digital technology is no longer the vision of the future, but the reality of today,” said Tan Sri Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia.

He added that K-KOMM and MDEC will establish a dedicated platform for the industry to continuously participate and provide valuable feedback on Malaysia Digital, including private-sector representatives from relevant industry bodies and organisations as subject matter experts.

MDEC’s CEO, Mahadhir Aziz highlighted that the agency will continue to drive and accelerate the sustainable growth of the nation’s digital economy with Malaysia Digital as the overarching initiative towards establishing Malaysia as the digital hub of ASEAN.

MD’s role is to accelerate the growth of Malaysia’s ecosystem within nine focus areas that include digital trade, digital agriculture, digital services, digital cities, digital health, digital nance, digital content, digital tourism and the Islamic digital economy. MD is also designed to drive digital adoption and opportunities in digital economy via the Malaysia Digital Catalytic Programmes and other competitive o erings.

MALAYSIA’S DIGITAL INVESTMENTS EXPERIENCE STRONG MOMENTUM

Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) is a strategic roadmap to drive a high-value-added economy in the country and to become a net-exporter of homegrown technologies and digital solutions. The digital economy, which has been experiencing exponential growth over the last year or more, is expected to make up 22.6% Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and create 500,000 jobs by 2025.

National e orts to accelerate digital investments in Malaysia are driven by MDEC and K-KOMM, as part of a national e ort to establish Malaysia as the digital hub of ASEAN, particularly in accelerating economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

These developments spell positive momentum for Malaysia in achieving the RM70 billion target of investments in digitalisation by 2025, as set by the MyDIGITAL. This initiative sets in motion various measures and targets for implementation in three stages up until 2030, also complementing the 12th Malaysia Plan and the Vision for Shared Prosperity 2030.

Digital investments pose a key aspect in the recovery of the Malaysian economy by creating high-knowledge jobs and enabling the acceleration of innovation as well as the adoption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, further boosting Malaysia’s digital economy and its status as a digitalised nation.

Achieving Malaysia’s digital investment aspirations call for the participation and e orts of the entire nation. K-KOMM and MDEC are set to drive the acceleration of digital investments by galvanising meaningful public private partnerships through enhanced framework, revamped incentives, and catalytic programmes of Malaysia Digital.

Tan Sri Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia said that there are three main focus areas in making Malaysia an information and communications technology (ICT) hub, in line with the MyDIGITAL initiative. The three main areas include communication infrastructure improvement, attracting digital investment and building manpower and human capital in the digital technology sector.

“To strengthen the connectivity ecosystem, the ministry has implemented the National Digital Infrastructure Plan or Jendela as an e ort to expand coverage and improve the quality of broadband services as a whole, through various initiatives and prepare the country for the transition to 5G technology,” explained Tan Sri Annuar.

The Ministry is also improving the connectivity ecosystem infrastructure under the Jendela+ plan to support the implementation of MyDIGITAL. Jendela+ is focused on three elements, namely, international connectivity (IC), internet exchange point (IXP) and data centre (DC).

To ramp up digital investment, through MDEC, the Ministry has drawn up a ve-year (2021-2025) strategic plan which is focused on ve main thrusts to attract investments and drive the country’s digital economy. The ve main thrusts include targeting an investment of RM50bil in the digital economy, creating 50,000 job opportunities in the digital industry, attracting 50 Fortune 500 technology companies to do business in Malaysia, and enabling ve global unicorn companies to operate in the country.