KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia Berhad yesterday led the capital market discussion on 5G and Industry 4.0 with the 3rd instalment of the Invest Malaysia 2020 Capital Market virtual conference. The Invest Malaysia 2020 Virtual Series 3: Advancing Malaysia: 5G and Industry 4.0, was held in collaboration with Macquarie Malaysia, focused on the policies and technology deployments that will advance Malaysia over the next five years.
“5G and Industry 4.0 implementations are not just on the near horizon. They are here offering opportunities with the promise of speed and responsiveness that will undoubtedly usher in new products, new services and revolutionary ways of doing things,” said Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman of Bursa Malaysia, in his opening remarks.
The Keynote Address by YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, set the tone by announcing, “The government, through several stakeholders including Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), telecommunications industry players and related agencies, have developed the National Digital Infrastructure Plan, or now known as JENDELA, to improve coverage and quality in a shorter period and faster pace. JENDELA will be the platform to improve the nation’s digital infrastructure under the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021–2025.”
The Minister continued, “It is very important to note that Malaysia is expediting the improvement of connectivity for both fibre optic and 4G as a means to ensure that the 5G rollout will be done in an efficient and effective manner; thereby benefitting the consumers without a significant increase in cost of service; industries being able to roll out their respective solutions utilising 5G; and of course for the service providers an expeditious use of the invested network.”
In a special address, YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), defined the post-COVID-19 transition by stating, “There is a silver lining to every dark cloud, and as restrictions began to be lifted along with the gradual resumption of economic activities, the numbers for economic performance in June 2020 started signalling that the country is on track for a gradual recovery.”
“Even more promising are the numbers for July, signalling Malaysia’s exports rising for the second straight month,” continued the Senior Minister, “We recorded an expansion of 3.1% from a year earlier on higher shipments of manufactured goods and agricultural commodities, particularly palm oil. All said, our trade surplus widened to a historical high of RM 25.15 billion last month, beating the previous record of RM20.9 billion in June.”
Referring to an Industry 4.0 agenda, the Senior Minister added, “The advancing of Malaysia’s 5G coupled with the implementation of Industry 4.0 is indeed the way forward to push the technology adoption and digital transformation so crucial to propel our economic trajectory. This has to be a concerted effort by all relevant stakeholders, including the GLCs, SMEs, MNCs and financial institutions working hand in glove with the government agencies.”
The Invest Malaysia 2020 Virtual Series 3 conference hosted three panel conversations. The first panel focused on maximising returns from infrastructure featuring YBrs. Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek, Chairman of MCMC; Afzal Abdul Rahim, CEO of Time dotCom and Imri Mokhtar, CEO of Telekom Malaysia.
The second panel focused on how to monetise 5G investments and featured Albern Murty, CEO of DiGi.Com; Gokhan Ogut, CEO, Maxis; Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, CEO, Axiata Group and Mohamad Idham Nawawi, CEO of Celcom Axiata. Both panel sessions were moderated by Prem Jearajasingam, Head of Research, Macquarie Malaysia.
The third panel focused on embracing changes from COVID-19 and the Industry 4.0 Revolution with Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC as the moderator, together with James Lai, Chairman of Malaysia IoT Association and Chow Sang Hoe, EY ASEAN Consulting Leader, Malaysia Consulting Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Advisory Services.
This instalment of Invest Malaysia 2020 was broadcast to virtually connected capital market investors from around the world, as well as to retail investors that tuned in via the Bursa Marketplace Facebook Live session.
Read more: Top 4 Ways to Predict Market Movements
Discussion about this post