MALAYSIA EMBARKING ON DIGITAL MALAYSIA MASTERPLAN, SAYS PM NAJIB

NEW YORK (Bernama) - The government is embarking on an innovative
digital economy framework that will culminate in the development of a Digital
Malaysia Masterplan, said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak here Wednesday.

He said this was a centralised approach the country was adopting to harvest
key opportunities arising from the global shift from analogue to digital.

"With the rapid growth of broadband penetration to cover 100 per cent of all
households by 2020, the Malaysian digital population is playing an increasingly
significant role in the socio-economic development of the country," he said at
the opening of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC)
inaugural meeting at the New York Academy of Sciences.

The meeting was attended by 35 members, comprising well known scientists and
experts in various fields, including Ellis Rubinstein President and Chief
Executive Officer of the academy and a Pulitzer prize winner in science
journalism.

Najib, who earlier launched the "Invest Malaysia New York 2011" forum at the
New York Stock Exchange, said Digital Malaysia would accelerate growth across
all sectors of the economy and create a climate conducive to innovation,
investment and talent.

"We will build an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of ICT in all
aspects of the economy to create communities connected globally and interacting
in real-time," he added.

The GSIAC is expected to provide valuable input and a fresh perspective to
uplift Malaysia's economy by hastening innovation, leverage on the nation's
strength in information and communications technology and improve science and
engineering education and skills.

Najib said the government knows that innovation was critical in ensuring
prosperity and promoting both environmental and societal well-being, adding that
it was committed to advancing Science, Technology and Innovation and making it
the driver for economic development and sustainability.

"This requires bold steps to build and leverage science and technology and
harness the existing strengths of our nation," he added.

Najib also said Malaysia has successfully transformed itself from an
agriculture-based economy to one that was straddled on manufacturing and
services.

"And now we are committed in working towards realising the goal of Vision
2020 - a high-income economy that is based on innovation and knowledge
generation - through our Economic Transformation Plan or ETP," he added.

The initiatives and reforms of the ETP are designed to deliver growth that
would benefit Malaysians and transform Malaysia into a developed country by
2020.

Najib said this required total investments of US$444 billion and an annual
growth of six per cent, generate some 3.3 million mostly high-income jobs and
skills training.

"It will lift Malaysia's Gross National Income (GNI) from US$6,700 in 2009
to US$15,000 in 2020," said the premier who mooted the idea to set up the
council during his visit to New York last September.

The plan, he said, would be private sector driven and account for 92 per
cent of total investments required, adding that some 27 per cent of investments
would be sourced from foreign direct investment.

The 12 sectors identified as Malaysia's National Key Economic Areas are oil,
gas and energy, palm oil and related products, financial services, wholesale and
retail, tourism, information and communications technology, education services,
electrical and electronic, business services, private healthcare, agriculture
and Greater Kuala Lumpur.

Najib said Malaysia needed to generate high-value economic activities by
connecting its cities and villages to the future through information and
communication technologies.

But the country's goals are not merely technological advancement and
economic growth, but included improvement in the quality of life and well-being
of all Malaysians, he said.

On the advisory panel, Najib said he was looking forward to receive
value-added advice and active support as Malaysia moved forward.

He said the council would serve as a platform to achieve objectives such as
providing advice on Malaysia's aspirations of becoming a high-income country
based on science and innovation.

It will also benchmark Malaysia's ranking and competitiveness in science and
innovation against other technologically advanced countries and improve its
capabilities in this field as well as collaborate with world experts and global
leaders.

Najib was confident the council would come up with recommendations and
specific action plans geared towards achieving the desired end-results.