Malaysia starts planning for digital economy past 2020

The Malaysian Government is planning new targets for using digital technologies to drive the country’s economic growth beyond 2020.

The new targets are being drafted by the Multimedia Development Corporation, which is leading the government’s Digital Malaysia initiative.

The goal for 2020 was to promote “the pervasive use of information, communications, and technology for government, businesses, and citizens-at-large”, Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, CEO of MDeC told GovInsider.

The country has already gone past its 2020 target of using ICT to contribute to 17% of its national GDP. Last year, ICT-based companies contributed to 18% of the economy, she said.

“We are now working on the digital agenda beyond 2020 [and] how to maximize the digital economy contribution to the country,” Dato’ Yasmin told The Malaysian Reserve.

“On top of that, we believe the digital innovation has led and continues to lead the nation in coming years.” MDeC accredits companies, incubators, and universities that develop or use ICT in their products and services through its MSC Malaysia initiative, providing funding and support to grow further.

MDeC is now looking at how it can support larger ICT-based companies, beyond the accredited ones.

“While the core mandate of MSC 20 years ago was more on infrastructure, we want to become a utopia for multinational companies to operate here,” Dato’ Yasmin said.