Shifting To a Digital Economy: 3 ASEAN Considerations
- By CDOTrends editors
- April 10, 2023
Malaysia is primed to shift its economy towards the global digital economy, bringing with it high-paying jobs and business opportunities that will reinvigorate the Malaysian economy.
The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) recently held a high-level roundtable themed 'Designing the Future of the Digital Economy', attended by industry leaders and business associations to discuss the critical considerations for Malaysia in ASEAN's digital economy.
The roundtable identified several critical considerations for Malaysia, including the need for resilient digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) integration into daily work, and increased domestic digital content production.
Experts said the country’s digital infrastructure needs to withstand the vast majority of cyber-attacks and include an integrated rollout of 5G communications that empower communication within industry supply chains.
Malaysia is making progress in this area by deploying its 5G network through Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), a special-purpose vehicle set up by the Malaysian government.
Digital and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the government has yet to make a policy decision on the role of DNB. It is looking at multiple factors and not just a monopoly point of view. The decision will be a critical factor in determining how Malaysia can leverage the power of 5G to advance its digital economy and ensure it remains competitive in the ASEAN region.
Furthermore, the clear integration of AI into daily work and productivity models requires rationalization to ensure that humans will always remain relevant. While 7% of workers may lose their jobs entirely, Goldman Sachs reports that the integration of AI will lead to broad improvements in workforce efficiency that can add around 1.5 percentage points to US labor productivity, which is about double the current rate.
Finally, the speakers stressed that more domestic digital content production is crucial to take advantage of an empowered ecosystem. From delivering entertainment, news, and enhanced learning to include augmented reality, businesses in Malaysia and the ASEAN region can leverage digital content to stay competitive and make the paradigm shift into the global digital economy.
Nordin Abdullah, the founding chairman of the Malaysia Global Business Forum, highlighted the importance of actively managing cyberspace to avoid a loss of market share. While the digital economy evolves, sovereign risk has become something that needs managing on the individual, corporate, and government levels.
MGBF co-chairman, Rizal Kamaruzzaman, suggested that data-driven decisions that address the challenges of the community will attract the most capital and the requisite critical mass of consumers. The government should look for these companies to push on the regional and global markets.
Image credit: iStockphoto/2d illustrations and photos