Malaysia 5.0 – spearheading digital transformation

THE aspiration of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is to firmly establish Malaysia as the heart of digital Asean, a regional digital powerhouse and industry trailblazer. In this role, it has launched global champions to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

At the cusp of 4IR, Malaysia is blessed with the opportunity of re-engineering the human experiment using technologies that decentralise authority along the lines of colour, creed and country – what the Japanese have coined as “Society 5.0”. This concept is now being adopted here as “Malaysia 5.0”.

MDEC is now poised to take a leading role in catalysing the transition to Malaysia 5.0 as a new narrative for the nation. This includes introducing and using emerging technologies that are now considered as essential tools in the new Malaysia 5.0 digital economy.

Malaysia has over one million smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) making up 98% of total businesses.

One particular industry that Malaysian SMEs could become a world pioneer is Islamic fintech. The growth of Islamic fintech will impact development in rural areas, especially among ethnic Malays. This will become the back-bone for this community as unique financial-inclusion opportunities will ensure they up their contribution to Malaysia’s socio-economic development.

This article was contributed by MDEC

chairman Datuk Wira Dr Rais Hussin.