Malaysia Digital shows country's readiness to be at forefront of digital economy - Annuar

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Digital initiative, to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob tomorrow (July 4), is a clear signal to the world that Malaysia is ready to put the country at the forefront of the digital economy.

Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, said that countries which took the opportunity to make adjustments, in terms of mechanisms and capabilities, to face the new digital economy ecosystem after the COVID-19 pandemic would be at the forefront of global races and competitions.

"It is fitting for the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to focus not only on appreciation (to digital economy industry players), but also to focus further, with a new emphasis starting from now for the next 25 years.

"It is apt for us to launch the programme tomorrow; an initiative that symbolises our country's commitment to address and master this new ecosystem," he said when addressing the Malaysia Digital Industry Awards presentation ceremony, in conjunction with the MDEC Silver Jubilee celebration.

Malaysia Digital is an enhanced and revamped programme at the country's leading digital economy agency, MDEC, succeeding MSC Malaysia, which has been in operation for 25 years.

He said since the establishment of MDEC 25 years ago, until December 2020, MDEC had successfully attracted investments worth more than RM384 billion, generated revenue of almost RM600 billion, recorded total exports of RM212 billion, and created more than 180,000 high-value jobs.

Apart from that, he said MDEC's commitment to driving the e-commerce sector saw the value of the country's e-commerce transactions reach RM1 trillion for the first time in 2021, an increase of more than 20 per cent compared with 2020.

"E-commerce also contributes 11.5 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, compared with only 8.5 per cent in 2019. This data shows that e-commerce is one of the fastest growing sectors.

"Similarly in other fields, including the creative industry (where) there are currently more than 300 creative industry studios, and so on," he said.

In conjunction with the Silver Jubilee celebration, MDEC, for the first time, organised the Malaysia Digital Economy Industry Awards Presentation Ceremony 2022, which aims to recognise and appreciate the agencies and industry players who have been supporting the agency and contributing to the development of the digital ecosystem in Malaysia.

Among the award recipients at the ceremony today were Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), for the Data-Driven Organisation Excellence Award; the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), and the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), for the National Data Sharing Advocacy Excellence - Public Sector Awards.

The top five awards including the #mydigitalmaker Exemplary Student Award and Three Malaysian Animated Intellectual Property with Highest Collection Award will be presented by Ismail Sabri during the Malaysia Digital launch ceremony and MDEC Silver Jubilee celebration tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA