Analysis of MDEC’s DIF5 strategy to achieve MyDIGITAL’s goals

On July 19, 2021, MDEC announced a five-year plan aimed at strengthening Malaysia’s digital economy, Digital Investments Future 5 (DIF5).

This plan is in line with the goals MyDIGITAL plan to attract investments worth 70 billion RM by 2025. For five years, this initiative has focused on:

Insurance An investment of 50 billion rubles;
Focusing on 5 key industrial sectors,, 5 focusing technology,, 5 new technologies, i digital global business services;
Attraction 50 Fortune500 technology companies to land and expand in Malaysia;
Establishing 5 unicorns; i
Creating 50,000 high value jobs u MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Hallway).

Focus on 5 key industry sectors:

1) AgTech

In other words, agritech (agriculture + technology). It is use of scientific techniques to improve the agricultural sector, such as the use of automated irrigation systems to reduce the labor force in agriculture.

From latest Malaysian Ministry of Statistics (DOSM) report for 2019, the agricultural sector is the third largest contributor to GDP (7.1%, which is 1011.5 billion RM) to the state, which stands next to the mining and quarrying sector.

The global agricultural industry was worth over $ 9.6 trillion in 2020. Despite the pandemic, industry growth is also expected with a complex annual growth rate of 6% by 2021, shared a joint report by Deloitte and MaGIC.

As the MoU contributes to the increasing use of technology in agriculture, it is estimated that by 2025 there will be an increase in employment opportunities in this sector, including young people.

2) HealthTech

They are technology such as artificial intelligence, medical devices, IT systems, algorithms, clouds and blockchains, etc. designed to support the healthcare industry.

By 2027, our local health sector is predicted grow to 127 billion RM. Moreover, more than 90% of domestic medical products are exported, and Malaysia supplies 60% of the world market with medical gloves and 80% with catheters. In fact, the global market for this healthcare sector alone is expected to reach $ 33 billion in 2021.

3) Islamic Digital Economy (IDE) and FinTech

IDE is a catalyst for Islamic finance and the halal industry. Islamic FinTech includes provide /Takaful, and Islamic social finance like zakat,, vakafetc.

Global Islamic funding is projected to converge $ 4 trillion by 2024, and locally, FIKRA Islamic Fintech Accelerator Program already plans to nurture upcoming startups in the sector.

Malaysia has a strong foothold in Islamic fintech technology, boasting most providers in the world and rankings number one of the Islamic economy globally, with the Report on the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2020/2021.

4) CleanTech

IT IS synonym with green technology, which includes renewable energy sources, new recycling methods and other technologies used to improve environmental sustainability. Globally, it is predicted that this industry will generate income of $ 57.8 billion in 2030.

Malaysia also has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% compared to the country’s gross domestic product of 2005 under the 2016 Paris Agreement, hence the urgency to involve the public and private sectors more.

5) EduTech

EduTech refers to technology implementation for educational purposes, inside and outside the classroom. It is a sector in which the growth of various educational applications, websites for online classes and much more has been recorded.

By 2025 global education market will reach $ 404 billion in total expenses, HolonIQ shared market data. The local, Malaysian e-learning market already existed seeing compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.4% in 2019.

The Malaysian online learning market is now expected to do so exceed $ 2 billion by 2023, thanks to growing demand for education, smart hours, etc., especially during a pandemic.

5 focusing technologies that help the sector grow:

Cloud computing: The delivery various services over the Internet, such as data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. A popular example of cloud computing that most of us use is Google Drive.
Data center: A physical object which organizations use to store their critical applications and data, and look almost like shelves in a library.
Artificial intelligence: Technologies that to imitate the ability to solve problems and make decisions of the human mind.
Cyber security: The protection networks, devices and data from unauthorized access or criminal use and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.
Digital content tools: Places and programs used to create or consume digital content.

Growing 5 new technologies:

Blockchain: A decentralized book all transactions over a peer-to-peer network.
DroneTech: Technology that drives drones remote or autonomously controlled by firmware.
Edge computing: A distributed a computer framework that brings business applications closer to data sources such as IoT devices or local edge servers.
Augmented reality: Also known like XR, which is the umbrella term for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) —basically all things related to the virtual environment.
Advanced robotics: Unlike conventional robotics you may have encountered in your school days, advanced robotics can operate autonomously.

According to MDEC, this will “increase the economic complexity of the nation and help develop new and existing economic clusters, which in turn creates high-value employment opportunities and expanded domestic economic ties,” which is in line with Malaysian national investment aspirations (NIA).

In addition, in addition to contributing to the national digital economy plan we have, these technologies will also be linked to the upcoming MDEC Global Test Initiative, which will allow Malaysia to test for upcoming technology investments.

In addition, they will develop a national base of intellectual property and talent in future technologies as this initiative will collaborate with higher education institutes and research centers.

The bigger picture

In addition to developing and attracting new technologies for DIF5, MDEC will also invest in the development of digital global business services. This is to be able to promote the use of robotic process automation and data analysis, as well as knowledge engineering.

Dictionary time: Knowledge engineering is an area of artificial intelligence (AI) that develops rules that apply to data to mimic the thought process of a man who is an expert on a particular topic.

Investopedia

To start DIF5, MDEC returned Malaysian Technology Month 2021 (which debuted last year) on July 29, 2021, and this virtual event includes workshops, forums and business alignment meetings that are all free to attend.