Support Pours In For The MyDIGITAL Initiative And National Fourth Industrial Revolution Policy
Support Pours In For The MyDIGITAL Initiative And National 4IR Policy
WASHINGTON DC USA, 12 May 2022 – The Malaysian Government’s aspiration to
transform Malaysia into a digitally enabled and technology-driven high-income nation
by 2030 is getting the attention and support of American multinational companies.
During a meet and greet session hosted by the Malaysian Embassy in Washington
DC with Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, four major
American tech companies namely: Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft), Intel
Corporation (Intel), Cisco Systems Inc. (Cisco) and Micron Technologies Inc.
(Micron), handed over letters of intent (LOI) to the Malaysian Government expressing
support and intention to partner with Malaysian institutions to realise the ambitions
stated in the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint (MDEB) and the National 4IR
Policy. The letters of intent were handed over to Mr. Fabian Bigar, Chief Executive
Officer of MyDIGITAL Corporation and witnessed by YAB Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri and
Minister of International Trade and Industry YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali during
the event.
Microsoft through its operations in Malaysia aims to partner with MyDIGITAL
Corporation and other relevant agencies to empower digital transformation for
Malaysia’s inclusive and sustainable development in areas that include the digital
transformation of the public sector. This follows Microsoft’s Bersama Malaysia
initiative announced last year, which include the establishment of its first data centre
region in Malaysia and skilling of one million Malaysians by the end of 2023.
Microsoft’s investment in Malaysia is expected to generate up to USD 4.6 billion in
new revenues over the next four years. The investment was also projected to add 19,070 new jobs over four years, directly and indirectly, of which 4,500 will be skilled
IT jobs. Microsoft has also skilled more than 430,000 Malaysians for the digital
economy since 2021 through programmes such as Microsoft’s MS Learn, Student
Ambassador Program and STEM curriculum in schools, as well as through
partnerships with Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp), Social
Security Organisation (SOCSO), Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp Malaysia),
along with other businesses and non-Governmental organisations (NGOs).
Intel, with operations in Malaysia since 1972, had announced new investments last
year amounting to a total over USD 7 billion for manufacturing facilities in Kulim High
Tech Park in Kedah and Bayan Lepas in Penang. This investment is expected to
create a total of 4,500 permanent jobs for Malaysians. Intel aims to cooperate with
the Malaysian government to expand digital readiness and tech education to equip
the citizens with 4
th Industrial Revolution (4IR) knowledge and skill sets needed to
build a robust talent pipeline and dynamic workforce. They also seek to collaborate
with the relevant agencies and the private sector in Malaysia to accelerate adoption
of 5G and Emerging Technologies to leapfrog Malaysia’s capabilities for high-tech
and advanced manufacturing. In addition, Intel will further provide support for
Malaysia to digitalise the trade ecosystem to elevate the ease of doing business in
Malaysia and strengthen the supply chain resilience.
Meanwhile, Cisco has had its presence in Malaysia since 1995 through its offices in
Kuala Lumpur and Penang. They have established collaborative partnerships with
122 education institutions in Malaysia via the Cisco Networking Academy, offering IT
skills and career development programs. The efforts have resulted in trainings of over
112,000 students to date. Cisco seeks to expand its Country Digital Acceleration
(CDA) Program for Malaysia which covers four pillars: Digital Transformation in Public
Sector, Digital Transformation in Industry, Digital Transformation in Small Medium
Business and Digital Transformation in Service Provider. To realise this, Cisco will be
working with local partners and institutions to help accelerate Malaysia’s digital
transformation agenda, in line with the MDEB and the National 4IR Policy. The CDA
program is the latest milestone in Cisco’s longstanding and continued commitment to
Malaysia.
Micron operates three manufacturing sites in Malaysia: one in Muar, Johor and two in
Batu Kawan, Penang that gives focus on memory/storage semiconductor assembly
and test operations that are critical to support market drivers such as Artificial
Intelligence, 5G, Automotive, Remote Learning/Working and e-Commerce. Currently,
Micron has a team of 4,000 members in Malaysia and plans to generate another 2,000
jobs through its expansion plan in the near term to propel leading-edge capabilities in
Malaysia. Micron also intends to scale up their talent development initiative through
the New College Graduate Program 2.0 (NCG 2.0) for Malaysian postgraduate
engineering students from local and overseas universities. The comprehensive
industrial training is for 12 months and will cover high-demand areas such as smart
manufacturing, advanced packaging/process engineering, test
engineering/development solution and operations excellence.
MyDIGITAL is a national initiative that symbolises the Malaysian Government’s
aspiration to transform Malaysia into a digitally enabled and technology-driven highincome nation and a regional lead in digital economy. The aspirations are encoded
into the MDEB, while the National 4IR Policy is a broad, overarching national policy
that drives coherence in transforming the socioeconomic development of the country
through ethical use of 4IR technologies. Both the MDEB and the National 4IR Policy
support national development policies such as the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 and
the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP). MyDIGITAL Corporation is a government agency set
up under Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department to
oversee the implementation of the MDEB and the National 4IR Policy.
As Malaysia gears up to transition to the endemic phase, the country is set to recover
and revitalise economic activities especially boosting digital economy. The support
from the multinationals is a testament to the global investors’ confidence in Malaysia
as the preferred destination to do business, as well as the capability and readiness of
the country as a whole to support high profile business ventures and activities.