KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Malaysia has facilitated RM110 billion in digital-related investments, almost double the target under the Malaysia Digital Blueprint’s (MyDigital) initiative, said Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz.
Factors like Singapore’s moratorium on new data centres and the shift of data centre investment to Malaysia have helped the country achieve MyDigital’s RM70 billion target earlier than 2025.
“A proposal to increase the overall long-term target from RM70 billion to RM130 billion has been sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“So InsyaAllah, the Prime Minister will announce an upgrade to RM130 billion soon. That is a proposal now, while it has not been finalised, but the number is good,” he said at the Malaysia Digital Expo (MDX) 2023 media gathering today.
MDEC aspires for Malaysia to be Asean’s digital heart and be known as Asia’s digital tiger.
Following its recent investment and export mission with the Communications and Digital Ministry to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mahadhir said discussions with the emirates’ property giant, Damac Group, are still in the early stages as it is exploring opportunities to invest in data centre business in the region.
“Because of the good relationship between Malaysia and the UAE, we are the best place for Damac to consider. They are looking at a few locations within Malaysia itself.
“I think for any investments, whether it is a small outlay versus big data centre investments, it would take between one to three years to be realised,” he said.
The MDX 2023 Grand Finale will be held from November 6 to November 8 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur, and incorporates a panel session between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and OpenAI’s former head of Go-to-Market, Zack Kass, as well as 45 other distinguished speakers participating.
— Bernama
