Salutations

1. His Excellency Mr B.N. Reddy High Commissioner of India to Malaysia

2. Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Ir. Kuna Sittampalam President, Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC)

3. Yang Berhormat Tuan Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh Chairman, MDEC

4. Yang Berusaha Encik Anuar Fariz Fadzil Chief Executive Officer, MDEC

5. Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Krishnan Tan Boon Seng Non-Executive Chairman, IJM Corporation Berhad

6. Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ N Puvan Deputy President, Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC)

7. Yang Berbahagia General Tan Sri Dato' Seri Panglima Mohd Azumi Bin Mohamed (Retired) Chairman, Dhaya Maju Infrastructure Asia

8. Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Ravindran Menon Group Executive Director, Hartasuma

9. Yang Berbahagia Datuk Lee Chun Fai Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, IJM Corporation Berhad

10. Yang Berbahagia Dato' Muthukumar Ayarpadde Executive Chairman, MK Tron Group

11. Yang Berbahagia Datuk P. K. Narayanan Chairman & Managing Director, SMH Rail

12. Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Dr. Subramaniam Pillai Group Executive Director, Dhaya Maju Infrastructure Asia

13. Mr Justin Chin Jing Ho Managing Director of Gamuda Engineering,

Gamuda Esteemed guests,

Members of the Media,

Ladies and gentlemen.

Salam Perpaduan, Salam Malaysia MADANI, and a very good evening to all of you.

1. Before I begin, allow me to thank Tan Sri Kuna Sittampalam, and his team at the Malaysia-India Business Council (MIBC) for inviting me to this important event. I must commend the good work carried out by MIBC over the years.

2. Building relationships is key in the pursuit of progress. This applies to both Malaysia and India. Both nations have enjoyed a strong relationship since the 1960s. Over the past few decades, our bilateral trade has increased. Many Indian companies have set up operations here in Malaysia. We too have benefited greatly from Indian expertise, particularly in the tech sector.

3. Trade between Malaysia and India was at USD 16.5 billion last year. India is Malaysia’s 11 th largest destination for exports, and the 12 th largest source of imports. This is a testament to the deepening economic linkages facilitated by frameworks such as the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, and the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.

4. This government firmly believes that we can cultivate a much stronger relationship with India, especially through collaborations in the digital sphere. I am reminded of the visit by Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, to Malaysia last month.

5. At a luncheon hosted by MIBC, I was informed that His Excellency had said that India and Malaysia are working towards boosting trade to USD 25 billion by 2026. I am of the opinion that such a figure is achievable, especially through digital partnerships.

Respected guests, ladies and gentlemen,

6. Research company Forrester has forecasted that the global digital economy is expected to hit USD 16.5 trillion by 2028. Malaysia is on track to capture a significant portion of this market. In fact, the digital economy is already a significant contributor to Malaysia’s GDP, and expected to contribute 25.5% to the nation’s GDP by the end of 2025.

7. There is an air of optimism in the country at the moment, and part of that is due to a series of investments from tech giants including AWS, Intel, Google, ByteDance, Nvidia, Meta and Oracle. These companies and many others are pouring in billions of US dollars to start and/or expand their businesses here, mainly in the data centre and semiconductor industries. International investors have faith and confidence in Malaysia due to our business-friendly policies, stable government, good infrastructure and strategic location.

8. In fact, the World Bank reported yesterday that it has upgraded its forecast of Malaysia’s GDP growth for this year to 4.9%, from its initial projection of 4.3%. Its lead economist for Malaysia, Apurva Sanghi said that Malaysia is projected to reach high-income nation status by 2028. 5 However, if the Ringgit's performance stays at current levels, we could achieve high-income status a year earlier, by 2027. This shows that we are indeed on the right track.

9. To further boost Malaysia’s digital economy and enhance its spillover effect, the Ministry of Digital is focused on three key pillars - helping to build infrastructure, creating digital resilience, and developing talents – in order to position this country as a premier digital hub in the region.

10. But we cannot do this alone. And India, being a giant in the tech sector, would be one of the best partners to assist us in our mission.

11. Such a partnership did materialise, in August. I had the honour of accompanying our Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his first official working trip to India, where our governments exchanged 8 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to further strengthen our working relationship in various areas, including in the field of digital technologies. A Malaysia-India Digital Council was also formalised during the same trip.

12. The Malaysian government fully supports India PM, Shri Narendra Modi’s call to expand bilateral trade and investments between both our nations, by way of a 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'. The key areas of possible collaborations include the semiconductor industry, financial technology, and artificial intelligence (AI).

13. India’s digital economy is also expanding rapidly, fueled by initiatives such as Digital India, Make in India, and Startup India. India too is working actively in specific industry sub-sectors such as quantum technologies and cyber security. These are sub-sectors that are of great interest to Malaysia, and we should leverage their expertise.

14. Through this synergy, we can enhance both our countries’ digital economies. While in India, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), an agency under the Ministry of Digital, also signed an MoU with India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). This strategic alliance will see 7 global Indian companies in Malaysia train and hire at least 5,000 Malaysians. The training and hiring scheme will take place over 3 years, beginning this year.

Ladies and gentlemen,

15. As mentioned earlier, MIBC is well-placed to assist and facilitate any organisation wanting to collaborate with Indian or India-based companies. These partnerships are key, allowing Malaysian companies to gain access to India’s massive market. Malaysia, meanwhile, can serve as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia, seeing as Malaysia will assume the ASEAN chair next year.

16. Southeast Asia’s total GDP in 2022 was USD 3.6 trillion – positioning ASEAN as the fifth largest economy in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, and Germany. 7 With over 70 million MSMEs in total, it is no wonder that this region is in the spotlight, and for all the right reasons.

17. The Southeast Asian economy continues to demonstrate resilience and sustained growth this year. In the works too is the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which seeks to harmonise digital trade rules and encourage enhanced cooperation amongst member states. DEFA is projected to unlock up to USD 2 trillion in value for the ASEAN digital economy by 2030, doubling the projected USD 1 trillion value under the region's current trajectory.

18. Southeast Asia’s strength lies in its diversity of languages, cultures, economies and, most critically, its vibrant and increasingly tech-savvy young population. Almost half the ASEAN population are below 30 years of age (2022).

Ladies and gentlemen,

19. As we attract more investors into Malaysia, we are also mindful that we must ensure the necessary safeguards are in place for a secure ecosystem, particularly when it comes to cyber resilience and digital trust. We have been strengthening our laws pertaining to the digital sphere.

20. The new Cyber Security Act 2024 came into force on August 26, 2024. Amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 were made to better protect the personal data of consumers. In addition, the Ministry of Digital is also working on a Data Sharing Bill to be tabled in the upcoming parliamentary sitting, while the 8 National AI Office will be launched next month.

21. As you are probably aware, Malaysia is keen to join BRICS and has applied to Russia to join back in July 2024. As our Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim said at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2024 last Monday, partnership with BRICS “will deepen global South-South relationships”.

22. As such, I urge Indian companies to make their presence felt here in Malaysia. I also give you my assurance that we will facilitate wherever we can, to help you in your quest to explore new territories. This also applies to homegrown companies, as we want to create more Malaysian champions. Ladies and gentlemen,

23. I wish to echo what Tan Sri Kuna had said about tonight’s event in a media article – this is not just a gathering, but a rallying call for collaboration; a platform for innovation and a demonstration of our steadfast commitment to deepening Malaysia-India relations.

24. The Ministry of Digital and its agencies are ready to assist the industry. Together, we can identify key areas for collaboration, address challenges, and chart a course for a prosperous future. Your views and input are valuable, and will provide better insights for us to draft effective and impactful policies.

25. In conclusion, I wish to thank Tan Sri Kuna and the organiser of this timely gathering, it is good to see so much synergy and enthusiasm among all of you here.

Have a great evening. Thank you.

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