PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has successfully secured over RM37.4bil in investment commitments in the digital technology sector as of August this year, says Fahmi Fadzil.
The Communications and Digital Minister said this, in turn, had promised the creation of at least 15,895 high-value jobs.
These, he added, reflected foreign investors’ confidence in Malaysia Digital (MD), the national strategic initiative driving the digital economy.
“Just recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the signing of three memoranda of understanding worth a total of RM19.84bil between Malaysian and Chinese companies, further solidifying Malaysia’s position as an attractive destination for investments,” he said at the launch of the Malaysia Digital Expo (MDX) 2023 here yesterday.
Fahmi said that the government had also unveiled the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 earlier this month, which was aimed at revitalising the nation’s manufacturing sector and increasing its value-added turnaround to the tune of RM587.5bil by 2030.
He said his ministry, and by extension, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), were fully aligned on this national goal.
MDX 2023 is a key initiative under MD that aims to position Malaysia as a leading digital nation in the Asean region.
“It provides a platform for local and international companies to collaborate, explore new opportunities in the digital economy, and showcase Malaysia’s digital assets to attract high-value digital investments,” MDEC said.
The MDX 2023, which began yesterday and will run until Nov 8, will feature a series of events to be held nationwide, including conferences, workshops, exhibitions and networking sessions, culminating in the MDX grand finale and industry awards dinner.
The event is expected to attract over 150,000 participants from around the world, including investors, entrepreneurs, technology start-ups, trade associations, policymakers and digital professionals.
The MDX 2023 is supported by auxiliary events such as the Malaysia Digital Content Festival 2023, the Malaysia-Japan Digital Exchange, the World Congress Information Technology on Innovation and Technology 2023, the Malaysia Cloud and Datacenter Convention 2023, and the #mydigitalmaker Fair 2023 Finale.
Fahmi later said the new chief executive officer of Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) is expected to be announced after the share subscription agreement signing is finalised somewhere next week.
He added Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican and Communication and Digital secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, who co-chaired the 5G task force meeting, will oversee the final aspects before the signing is carried out.
“I have notified all the CEOs of mobile network operators (MNOs) about finalising the share subscription agreement signing.
“Hopefully, it will be within next week if everything goes well.
“We will also inform the media when the signing will take place after all MNOs that participated in the meeting have taken up their equity... I think perhaps either during or just after the signing (to announce the CEO), hopefully,” he said.
Fahmi had earlier been reported as saying that all telecommunication companies had agreed to sign the access agreement to provide 5G service, but the matter of share ownership in DNB had yet to be announced.
On July 21, Fahmi said CelcomDigi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia, U Mobile and YTL Communications would finalise talks on equity holdings in DNB soon.
This would further support the development of the 5G network until coverage reaches 80% of populated areas by the end of this year.
