1. YBrs. Mr. Fabian Bigar
Secretary General, Ministry of Digital
2. Mr. Evan Cheah
Group CEO, Strategic and Digital Investments of Sunway Group
3. YBhg. Professor Dato' Dr Elizabeth Lee Fuh Yen
Group CEO of Sunway Education and Director of 42 Malaysia
4. Ms. Ellina Roslan
Senior Director, MyDIGITAL Corporation
5. Matt Van Leeuwen
Chief Innovation Officer, Sunway Group and Director of Sunway iLabs
6. Ms. Kayse Foo
Director of Khazanah
Members of the media,
Ladies & Gentlemen.
Salam Sejahtera dan Salam Malaysia MADANI.
1. Firstly,a big thank you to 42 Malaysia for inviting me to this Ecole’ 42 Kuala Lumpur campus. Such visits are often an eye-opener, as we get to fully understand and appreciate the various initiatives that are happening in our very own backyard.
2. It’s been eight months since the Ministry of Digital was set up in December 2023 to drive the nation’s digital agenda, and spearhead Malaysia’s ambition to become a globally competitive, inclusive, and sustainable digital economy. This Ministry is working horizontally across all ministries to ensure the successful implementation of strategic initiatives under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the National 4IR Policy – with three main thrusts: Infrastructure, Cybersecurity & Digital Trust, and Talent.
3. For these important priorities to be translated into results, public-private collaborations are critical, and government-industry partnerships can expedite and hasten our national digital agenda.
4. In recent months, tech giants such as Google, AWS, Byte Dance, NVIDIA and Microsoft have committed billions of ringgit into Malaysia’s digital sector, particularly in the data centre sector. These investments are expected to have a spillover effect, creating new opportunities for the surrounding locales, as well as the supply chain and procurement sectors.
5. I am happy to share with you that Malaysia's digital investment under MDEC’s Malaysia Digital initiative, has hit RM66.22 billion in the first half of this year, surpassing the RM46.2 billion in digital investment for the whole of 2023. These investments come with the creation of 25,498 jobs in the first half of 2024, surpassing the 22,258 tally recorded in 2023.
6. The surge in foreign and domestic investments are mainly due to the MADANI Government’s business-friendly policies. We are fully aware that the digital sector creates new economic opportunities, while uplifting the wellbeing of and creating prosperity for the rakyat.
Ladies and gentlemen,
7. While we go on to attract investors, and build world class infrastructure, the one crucial component to get things going is talent.
8. Digital talent is crucial in an age where AI is projected to affect almost 40% of jobs around the world, displacing some and complementing others. Take for example the cyber security sector, where Malaysia needs at least 25,000 workers by 2025. Currently, there are 13,000 workers in the field, with a shortage of 12,000 workers.
9. Creating talent starts with educating youths, while reskilling and upskilling those who are already in the workforce. This is to ensure no one is left behind in our race to create a digitally-savvy nation.
10. Perhaps some of you may remember that in 2018, I visited Ecole 42 in Paris. Then as the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, I was very intrigued to know more about the talent development programmes being offered.
11. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was a school that provided computer science education for free. 42’s ultimate goal is sustainable professional integration into the labour market. This aligns with the government’s goal in creating a digitally-savvy and future-proof workforce, and to dramatically scale up our ability to create high-quality talent.
12. I am delighted that, thanks to Sunway Education Group and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, we can proudly say we have our version of that educational model – 42 Malaysia. There’s now 42 Kuala Lumpur, and I have been informed that there will be campuses in Iskandar Puteri (Johor) and Penang by the end of this year. This is very good news indeed!
13. The project-based learning adopted by 42 Kuala Lumpur imitates real-world work situations, and encourages students to build conceptual frameworks. I’ve been told students are free to explore their own field of programming and discover what they are truly passionate about. The classes here are free too.
Ladies and gentlemen,
14. MyDIGITAL, which was incorporated in September 2021, is taskedn with the responsibility to lead national-level change management in driving the execution of the initiatives under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the National 4IR Policy. Among its roles is to cultivate and endorse collaborations between the public sector, private sector, academia and social civil organisations.
15. I am a big fan of collaborations. Through partnerships, we can learn best practices from one another. It is the best way to bridge gaps, and work on realistic policies, benefitting all levels of society.
16. I’ve been made to understand that the MoU between MyDIGITAL and 42 Malaysia will leverage skill sets from both organisations to develop digital talent in Malaysia. The planned initiatives include:
a. joint research and development,
b. cross-border training exchange programmes,
c. collaborative workshops and training programmes,
d. public-private partnerships; AND
e. executive digital leadership programmes.
17. This MoU will complement the existing programmes carried out by the other agencies under the Ministry of Digital. This includes MyDIGITAL's successful 'AI Untuk Rakyat' initiative, an online learning module aimed at enhancing AI literacy among the rakyat. The programme has achieved 1.27 million registrations within 7 months and 1.15 million completions to date. 6
18. I look forward to the outcome of this MoU. I would like to thank MyDIGITAL and 42 Malaysia once again for this timely initiative to boost talent development. This will surely help strengthen the nation’s digital sphere as we look forward to an exciting future ahead.
Thank you very much again for inviting me and have a great day.
