Malaysia to chair first ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting

Themed "ASEAN: A Digitally Connected Community", the meeting seeks to strengthen cooperation among ASEAN countries towards building digital ecosystems as a pillar in the post-COVID-19 development plan.

The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) in a statement today said the emphasis would be on the importance of centralisation and unity in efforts to develop the ASEAN Community in the areas of cybersecurity, personal data protection, 5G, and promoting innovations and e-commerce.

“The meeting also aspires to expand cooperation with ASEAN dialogue partners including Japan, China, the European Union, the United States, South Korea and India in enhancing information and communication technology (ICT) policies, developing human resources, discovering and exploring new technologies, and enhancing the ability to deal with risks in cyberspace.

"This meeting is also a forum for the exchange of views and policies related to the use of the spectrum for telecommunication purposes as well as matters related to the telecommunications industry in the Southeast Asian region," it said.

Recognising the importance of trust in electronic transactions as the main basis to encourage the community to adopt digital transformation, KKMM said the ASEAN Digital Data Governance Framework initiative has been developed to formulate administrative procedures and data transfer methods between ASEAN countries.

KKMM said the meeting would also focus on developing 5G networks in ASEAN countries through the Policy Recommendations for 5G Ecosystem Development project.

"ADGMIN1 aims to encourage more participation from the private sector to jointly develop quality ICT infrastructure and services to enhance ASEAN's competitiveness to support the goals of the ASEAN Community," it added.