The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) recently entered into partnerships with a leading bank and a Chinese tech giant.
On 24 July 2020 MDEC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian branch of a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company.
The MoU focuses on enhancing the adoption of technology among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large local corporates and multinational companies (MNCs) in the country.
The signing marked the first MoU between both organisations, highlighting the critical role of public-private partnerships in mitigating the adverse effects of COVID-19 on businesses in Malaysia by encouraging companies to embrace digitalisation.
It will identify targeted investments spanning businesses across multiple sectors including technology, healthcare, electronics, manufacturing, education and more from a host of countries including but not limited to China, the USA, the UK and Japan.
The initiative will significantly help push Malaysia forward as a major global digital powerhouse. The CEO of the Malaysian branch stated that the collaboration will help to create opportunities in times of adversity through the effective adoption of technology.
COVID-19 has intensified the need for businesses of all sizes to incorporate innovative digital solutions and strategies into their daily operations.
The parties’ shared commitment to enable the economy’s digital transformation will amplify the integration of technology and fuel business growth in Malaysia.
MDEC’s CEO said corporations like the bank possess market knowledge, resources, established networks, and the validation that companies aspire to attain, while the technology companies possess the agility and novel ideas that corporations value.
MDEC aims to harness these complementary strengths, which will not only advance the nation’s digital agenda but potentially lead to the creation of deep-tech solutions in problem-solving.
The agreement also includes, where relevant and necessary, providing advisory and other banking services to SMEs, large local corporates and multinational companies that are looking at entering the market or expanding their business in the country.
MDEC more recently announced that it signed an MoU with a leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices to spearhead the initiative to drive Malaysia’s position as the heart of digital ASEAN.
This collaboration will kick start with a white paper development conducted by both parties on identifying and developing key elements to realise the aspiration of Malaysia being the regional digital hub.
Through this partnership, MDEC aims to gain insights and knowledge in addressing the pain points and challenges faced by the digital ecosystem in the country; to be prepared with solutions to enable and facilitate the capacity building to realise the full potential of Malaysia’s digital economy through digital adoption and digital talent development, the CEO stated.
The MoU will focus on developing a robust digital economy, including information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, applied innovative technologies (5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), digital tech talent and digital connectivity.
This partnership will see the sharing of best practices and knowledge-sharing between both parties, with Huawei taking the lead in providing technical and business advisory strategies and support.
MDEC and the Malaysian branch of the tech giant will continue to conduct joint research and services related to digital technologies by working with various government bodies to publish white paper studies for the benefit of improving Malaysia’s digital economy.
Talent development is one of the key areas to focus to enable sustainable growth across all industries. This will be included in the digital hub framework to emphasise the importance of nurturing digital skilled minded talents and foster a new wave of a digital workforce in the future.