Malaysian minister urges tech firms to expand locally

Amidst the surge of foreign investments in Malaysia’s digital economy, the government is keen to see more local technology companies expand their operations within the country, said Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

He recently told the press that one significant effort in the direction is the Gateway, Amplify, Invest & Nurture (GAIN) initiative by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

GAIN aims to facilitate market access for Malaysian tech firms through business-to-business matching and networking with global tech ecosystem players.

Since 2017, it has accessed markets in over 26 countries, involving over 150 Malaysian tech companies and organizing over 1,000 one-to-one business meetings.

This has resulted in revenues of RM31.9 billion ($7.45 billion) and exports worth RM11.2 billion, he said during the Digerati50 Networking Cocktail event in Cyberjaya.

Gobind highlighted that the digital economy is projected to contribute 25.5% to Malaysia's GDP by the end of next year, adding the rise in digital investments to RM66.22 billion in the first half of this year, surpassing the RM46.2 billion recorded in 2023, shows Malaysia is on the right track.

These investments depend on the resilience of the digital sphere. Technologies like generative AI can offer many benefits, but must be soundly implemented, he added.