Malaysia is looking to develop its infrastructure in a bid to drive the country’s digital transformation.
This attempt is expected to significantly attract more Fortune 500 firms as digital and technology are the key elements to future quality investment. Digital enhancement in Malaysia to attract Fortune 500 companies is going on.
Malaysia’s position in the industrialisation field has been a positive sign to foreign companies as an attractive destination for investment.
According to the World Bank Doing Business 2019 Report, Malaysia increased its place to the 15th position from the 24th position last year.
The low cost to establish a company and hiring employees encouraged these potential investors to choose Malaysia.
5G technology will be an added advantage and Malaysia has made a heavy investment of RM21.6 million for the five-year National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan. This technology will allow quality high-speed connectivity throughout the country, particularly the rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak.
Additional initiatives have been implemented by Malaysia in advancing the nation’s digital and technology infrastructure and necessary facilities to attract foreign investors.
Training is seen as one of the most important initiatives of Malaysia’s digital talent development strategy.
Efforts include training students to make them industry 4.0 ready. In addition, upskilling and reskilling existing employees will further bolster the Malaysian digital workforce.
A tech-savvy workforce will attract more global companies to set up operations and recruit existing talent locally. The hope is that Malaysia’s digital and tech professionals will become the very best within the global digital industry.
About 50% of the Malaysian business owners are aware of the importance to invest and pursue digital skills. They place these skills as the main priority which 78% of their business plans are on digital skills investment.
With this being said, the leading companies in Malaysia are making conscious decisions to push towards digital upskilling to increase optimum productivity.
However, the SME sector has been facing challenges. Limited digital knowledge in the sector has lead to minimal adoption of technology causing SMEs to remain stagnant and uncompetitive.
In an effort to get support such SMEs and help them embrace technology, several government interventions are being implemented.
Recently, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED) and the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) agreed to collaborate.
SMEs’ adaptation to Industry 4.0 technology will increase their capabilities to face market challenges in both local and international markets, the MED Secretary-General stated.
It is important that SMEs respond to these changes by improving traditionally manual processes to gain speed, efficiency, and productivity – all important features of an advanced, adaptive and highly capable business.
Malaysia is placing a heavy emphasis on educating the local business professionals with adequate innovative strategies to be integrated with their business plans.
This is essential for Malaysia to catch up in the digital race and minimise the gap with other Southeast Asia countries.
By recognising technology as the game-changer in the current digital landscape, it is possible for Malaysia to attain its ambitions of being a frontrunner in the region.