Malaysia Sets Up Southeast Asia's First Centre For 4th Industrial Revolution To Accelerate Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery

Malaysia Sets Up Southeast Asia's First Centre For 4th Industrial Revolution To Accelerate Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery

The Malaysian Government is pleased to announce the establishment of a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), an independent centre within the World Economic Forum, to support the achievement of Malaysia's overarching vision under its 4IR Policy launched in 2021, as well as the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint. This will serve to accelerate technology adoption that will help secure a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable growth for Malaysia as the economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. The establishment of this centre, also the first in Southeast Asia, highlights the Malaysian Government's commitment towards prioritizing technology as a key catalyst for economic growth and post-pandemic recovery, as well as support its aspiration to be a regional leader in the digital economy.

The "C4IR" will be part of the Forum's global network for multi-stakeholder co-operation to realize the benefits of emerging and innovative technology. Through its current network of centres globally, the C4IR is pioneering an agile and human-centred model of techfocused policy development and implementation.

The C4IR will be officially set up and officiated by Malaysia's Prime Minister YAB Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in the second half of 2022. The C4IR establishment was announced on behalf of the Malaysian Government by YB Senator Tengku Datuk Sri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia's Minister of Finance, at the side lines of the World Economic Forum Meeting held on 23 - 26 May 2022.

"Malaysia is accelerating its digital transformation journey, and our ability to leverage on 4IR technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, renewable energies and quantum computing will be one of the leading drivers for the nation's sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic growth in decades to come. To this end, having the C4IR helps ensure that Malaysia's choice of technologies and their interaction across the physical, digital and biological domains will serve humanity not just materially, but also meaningfully. As such, the Ministry of Finance looks forward to working with the relevant ministries to ensure the C4IR's success as a platform for technological transfers and for developing local capacity as quickly as possible," said Tengku Zafrul at the side-lines of the World Economic Forum Meetings in Davos today.

"We look forward to welcoming Malaysia to the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution's global network later this year. As the first centre in Southeast Asia, C4IR Malaysia will play a critical role in leading the digital transformation in the region," says Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.

Once established, the C4IR will be managed by the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department, with programmes to be crafted and implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communications & Multimedia and Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation. The World Economic Forum will also continue to play a collaborative role in the operationalisation of the C4IR. Key target beneficiaries of Malaysia's 4IR agenda include youths (e.g., through better access to learning methods and skills-enhancement powered by edutech); social enterprises (e.g., to solve socioeconomic issues, facilitate digital onboarding and bridge the rural-urban digital gap); businesses (e.g., to develop industry-led and sectoral based 4IR-powered capacity) and the public sector (e.g., to leverage on big data to improve public service delivery).

Ministry of Finance
Putrajaya
25 May 2022