Malaysia offers conducive environment for startups such as Infobip to thrive

KUALA LUMPUR: Infobip, a technology unicorn company from Croatia, has made Malaysia its Asia Pacific hub as the country offers a conducive environment for startups, especially technological infrastructure, said Ante Pamukovic, its president for international revenue.

He said the cloud communications company was little known when it ventured to Malaysia 14 years ago, but the support it received has enabled it to slowly expand.

“We have now made Malaysia Infobip’s Asia Pacific operations hub,” he told Bernama.

Explaining further, Pamukovic said Malaysia’s technological infrastructure with dedicated technology areas such as Cyberjaya allows startups to have seamless operation and management. “From a logistical perspective, it is convenient to travel within the region from Malaysia,” he added.

Infobip vice-president and general manager for Asia Pacific and Eurasia, Ruslana Reznikova, said Malaysia is also cost-effective and has helped startups like Infobip to scale up throughout the region.

On the company’s future plans, she said Infobip is in the process of establishing a special fund for startups. “We are grateful to be here and we want to continue supporting the startup ecosystem.

“Thus, at this juncture, we are talking to several key stakeholders to propel this idea and Infobip will play a role in both funding and guiding new startups in this arena,” she added.

Currently, it has 85 personnel in its new headquarters located in Menara Integra.

For the record, Malaysia has stated its aspiration to be the regional digital hub and has proven itself to be an attractive investment destination within the Asean region.

According to statistics from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) as of November 2023, there were a total of 1,428 projects with a proposed investment of RM72.3 billion in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, RM71.4 billion of approved investments were recorded in the first half of 2023. —Bernama