Malaysia needs to avoid falling into the middle-income trap - WEF President

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia must steer clear of the middle-income trap to realise its ambition of transforming into a high-income nation, according to Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum.

Emphasising the importance of investing in education and fostering gender inclusion, Brende highlighted the key factors crucial for Malaysia's journey towards attaining high-income status.

"Malaysia needs more commercialisation of technologies.

"I think there's one unicorn in Malaysia, where Malaysia could easily have 20-25, and we hope the center that we have established now can be a real centre for young innovators and entrepreneurs to come and be a part of."

Brende made these remarks in an interview with Astro AWANI's Cynthia Ng following the launch of the first Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Malaysia (Malaysia Centre for 4IR) in the ASEAN region.

The Malaysia Centre for 4IR is an independent centre within the WEF global ecosystem focusing on two priorities -- digital transformation and GovTech, and energy transition.

This centre, hosted by MyDIGITAL Corporation, will bring together government and business leaders, academics and experts to create a hub of innovation and expertise to unlock the potential of emerging technologies.