Digital Economy Key to Malaysia’s Future

Malaysian Finance Minister sees the importance of Malaysia to leverage on the data and new technologies. He said the government recognizes digital economy as key to advance the country economically and socially.

“Embracing the digital economy is strategically important for our nation.” Lim Guan Eng addressed at the SCxSC FinTech Conference 2018. He further explained that the country not only have to have access to the data, but also have to understand as well as leverage on the data. The government expects the digital economy to increase from 18.2% in 2016 to 20% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.

He said the government will invest significant resources to nurture the digital economy despite facing fiscal difficulties. He noted that the digital economy could become the next growth engine. Therefore, the adoption of digital economy is crucial to lead Malaysia to be a developed country.

The latest technologies involve artificial intelligence and big data are part of Industry 4.0 that now widely applied in the domestic retail, marketing and transport industries. They could help develop Malaysia and are among the key factors to help the country escapes from the middle-income trap. However, the development of this sector is not solely the role of the government. The government also exploring new funding mechanisms in collaborating with the private sector.

“RM2 billion will be allocated by the government linked investment companies such as Khazanah funds basis to co-invest with private equity and venture capital funds,” he said.