Muhyiddin launches RM3.5 billion Jaringan PRIHATIN Programme to bridge digital gap

He said the programme will benefit approximately 8.5 million people from the B40 group who will be able to own smartphones or enjoy the broadband internet plan.

The government will provide RM2 billion of the total allocation, while telecommunication companies and service providers will chip in the remaining RM1.5 billion, especially in terms of free data, he said at the launch of the programme here today.

Also present was Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

"In order to bridge the digital gap among the community, there is a need to ensure that everyone can get the access at a reasonable cost, and has the skill to make optimal use of the internet by 2030," he said.

To overcome the issues related to skills, especially for small and medium enterprises (SME) to adopt digital transformation, Muhyiddin said the government had also announced various incentives in the 2021 Budget, such as the SME Digitalisation Grant worth RM150 million, Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund worth RM1 billion and the establishment of RM1 billion High Tech Facility.

He said the government, through the MCMC, had built 910 community internet centres nationwide, which serve as digital community halls to help the local communities to equip themselves with digital skills such as online business or e-commerce.

The prime minister said the digital gap among the people must be bridged in the effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic and to lay the foundation stone for more inclusive growth of the country's economy.

"While digital inclusion is not the only solution to inequality, it is a fundamental component to enable social inclusiveness among the people to be achieved.

"As the pulse of the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, digital inclusiveness will continue to be the government's main focus to make Malaysia a more fair and equitable country a reality," he added.