Guest speaker: Dr Wee delivering his speech at the Third Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou. — Photo courtesy of Dr Wee’s Facebook page
PETALING JAYA: Continued collaboration and cooperation with China will be key to realising Malaysia’s aspiration to become a regional digital powerhouse, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said Malaysia-China digital cooperation will facilitate groundbreaking technological exchange and enhancement, while also improving connectivity between the two countries.
To this, he referenced how Alibaba, a representative enterprise of Hangzhou’s digital economy, was pivotal in Malaysia’s digital transformation.
“Alibaba Cloud established its cloud data centre and second availability zone in 2017 and 2018, which helped create the Malaysia Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) as the first electronic World Trade Platform (e-WTP) established jointly by the Alibaba Group and a foreign government,”
Dr Wee said in his speech at the Third Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, yesterday.
“During my tenure as Malaysia’s Transport Minister, I actively promoted intelligent logistics and transportation digital transformation, focusing on green port policies and digital transformation plans, with support from Alibaba Group.
“As a global leader in artificial intelligence technology, Alibaba Cloud also provided various services for the digital transformation of Malaysian enterprises and government agencies.“This is another example of the win-win cooperation between China and Malaysia.”
Dr Wee also pointed out China’s impressive digital economy growth as a model for Malaysia to emulate going forward.
“In the first half of 2024 alone, China’s digitally deliverable service import and export scale hit historical highs as it reached 1.42 trillion yuan and 1.22 trillion yuan for cross-order ecommerce import and export respectively.
“China’s telecommunications business revenue also increased year-on-year by 6.2% in 2023, and network service capabilities continued to be upgraded, with total computing power ranking second in the world.
“As such, we look forward to learning about China’s key planning and initiatives for digital economy development in 2024 at this conference,” he said.
Dr Wee also noted how states such as Johor, being the fastest-growing data centre market in South-East Asia, should look to learn from Zhejiang, which has seen its digital economy account for over half of its total economy.
“In 2023, the province’s digital economy achieved a value-added output of 4.33 trillion yuan, growing by 10.1%, accounting for 52.5% of GDP, which is the fastest growth rate among all provinces in China.
“The comprehensive development level of digitalisation has been ranked first in China for two consecutive years as its core digital economy industries’ value-added output grew by 9.1%, accounting for 12.9% of GDP in the first half of this year.
“These are remarkable achievements that Malaysia can learn a lot from,” he added.
The Third Global Digital Trade Expo that began on Wednesday is being held in Hangzhou, and organised by the Zhejiang Hangzhou Municipal Government and the China International Trade Association.
The four-day expo features leading enterprises from 32 countries and regions, focusing on innovation and showcasing cutting-edge applications in digital trade, including artificial intelligence, smart robotics and low altitude economy.
Dr Wee attended the expo together with Melaka Chief Minister’s investment adviser and Klebang state assemblyman, Datuk Lim Ban Hong, who attended as panellist.
Other speakers included Cambodia’s Post and Communications Minister, Vandeth Chia, and League of Arab States to China Minister Plenipotentiary representative, Ahmed Mustafa Fahmy Hafez.
