TIME FOR M'SIA TO COMMIT TO DIGITALLY TRANSFORMING GOVT & ENTERPRISES, SAYS PM

By Massita Ahmad

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 8 (Bernama) -– The time has come for Malaysia to commit to
digitally transforming the government and enterprise in ways that will benefit
the nation and the people, says Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

“As MSC Malaysia embarks on its third phase, I am confident it would play
an ever more important role in Malaysia’s progress, specifically in our journey
towards becoming an Innovative Digital Economy,” he said.

Najib MSC Malaysia would complete its second phase by year-end and this
initiative has been extremely successful, already surpassing the set targets.

During this phase, MSC Malaysia laid the foundation towards developing the
infrastructures, companies and professionals capable of leading the charge
towards the country’s goal, he said.

It contributed more than RM35 billion (US$1=RM3.08) towards the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) between 2004 and 2010, created more than 83,000 jobs,
strengthened Malaysia’s position as a Global Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) hub while creating new sub-sectors and building a new class of
technopreneurs, he said at the end of the 22nd Implementation Council Meeting
(ICM) and 13th MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel (IAP).

“Now, on the cusp of Phase III of the MSC Malaysia Agenda, the focus was to
leverage the ICT sector even more and take things to a new level.

“Based on our discussions Thursday, we have come to the conclusion that the
way forward requires us to start working towards an Innovative Digital Economy,”
said the prime minister.

Najib said today’s Digital Economy was impressive and amazing, as much as
it was fast and unforgiving to the unprepared, as it contributed 35 per cent or
US$17 trillion to global trade last year.

He said global e-commerce revenue would hit US$3.8 trillion by 2020, an
astonwashing number by any reckoning.

“Our goal of an Innovative Digital Economy is to stimulate human creativity
with new technologies, outlets and opportunities,” he said.

These catalysts would in turn lead to innovation in products, services and
processes created; increasing productivity for individuals and businesses while
boosting their competitiveness in the global digital economy, he said.

As such, Najib said, a well-planned and successfully executed digital
strategy
was a must to ensure that Malaysia was able to continue competing and
excelling on the global front.

“In view of the need, we discussed and decided on some recommendations which
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) would spearhead,” he said.

There are development of the architecture for a national Innovative Digital
Economy framework, the infusion of technology across all economic sectors in
driving productivity and innovation, making Malaysia a vibrant hub for creation
of ICT solutions leading to becoming a net exporter, ICT empowerment as a source
of national competitive advantage, and pervasive use of ICT to increase the
quality of life across all communities, he said.

Najib said these outcomes perfectly complement the outcomes of the
government’s
Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).


“Another important decision we made was the review of current immigration
policy on work permits for foreign students in the knowledge sector.

“Annually 1,000 qualified foreign students from local institutions of higher
learning would be allowed work permits to address the projected shortfall in ICT
talent,” he said.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said small and medium enterprises
are a key driver of growth, hence the need to strengthen their capabilities to
not only expand domestic market share but also to go global.

“Access to funding was crucial here and to address this, a task force would
be set up to facilitate the provision of soft loans to support expansion,” he
said.

He said the task force would look into formulating and implementing a
national Intellectual Property (IP) valuation model to support the acceptance of
IP as collateral by financial institutions.

On the meetings, Najib said the two very important meetings were extremely
fruitful and have yielded some key outcomes that would have a big impact on the
country’s transformation plans.

"One clear resolution from the IAP and ICM meetings was that ICT remains a
key factor for our success as a nation," he said.