Digital Malaysia on track for RM31.2 b investments by 2020 – Industry News

Monday, 09 July 2012 03:00

Digital Malaysia, a national digital transformation programme, is on track to achieve up to RM31.2 billion in investment by 2020, after eight projects with investments of RM12.4 billion are being implemented this year.

The four main projects by investment value are the RM620 million Asian e-fulfilment hub, a RM600 million e-Payment services for small and medium businesses and micro-enterprises, a RM300 million shared cloud enterprise services and a RM413 million microsourcing for income generation.

The others are the on-demand customised online education with an investment of RM39.8 million, growing the embedded systems industry with investment of RM10.2 billion, a RM112 million mobile digital wallet as well as the accelerated international trade through e-Commerce.

Details of Digital Malaysia, a collaborative effort by the Science, Tech­nology and Innovation Ministry and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) were unveiled at a media briefing by its Deputy Minister, Datuk Fadillah Yusof and MDeC Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Datuk Fadillah said Digital Malaysia would foster a cohesive digital ecosystem to drive the country towards a developed high income digital economy by 2020.

He said previously the focus was on driving the industry, but today, the government wants to empower citizens and businesses to use digital technology to enhance their lives and businesses.

Datuk Badlisham said the programme is targeted to create 160,000 jobs and increase the overall contribution from the digital economy to 17 % or over RM294 billion of the gross national income (GNI) by 2020, from the current 12.5 %.

Datuk Badlisham said Digital Malaysia is based on three strategic thrusts - shift Malaysia from supply- to demand-focused, from consumption- to production-centric and to evolve from low knowledge-added to high knowledge-added through the development of local talents in key industries.

The programme will encourage the extensive applications of ICT in all aspects of the economy, connecting communities globally and interacting in real-time, leading to an increase in GNI, enhanced productivity and higher standards of living, he added.

Datuk Badlisham said Digital Malaysia would assist to create a new class of digital entrepreneurs through demand-focused initiatives as well as nurture a new generation of Digital-savvy youth, who would be the country's workforce from 2020.

In addition, the programme would spur automation and technology adoption among SMEs which would enhance their productivity.

Adapted from NST Business Times, StarBiz and The Sun Daily