GOVERNMENT AIMS TO LAUNCH DIGITAL ECONOMY MASTERPLAN IN OCT 2020  

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13  -- The government is expected to launch the Digital Economy Masterplan in October 2020 as an initiative to expand all sectors, including the non-manufacturing sector in the country, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said last year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) had introduced the Industry4WRD policy, but it had only involved the manufacturing sector. 

"MITI has decided to expand the policy to include non-manufacturing sectors.

“To this end, the government has nearly completed a study on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) and it will be merged with the digital economy,” he said after launching the “Menjana Ekonomi Digital @ Pasarman.com” here today.

Mustapa said with the plan in hand, growth in other sectors can be accelerated.

"We will present it (the plan) to the government, and once it has been approved, it will be announced within two months,” he said.

He said the government is in the midst of coordinating the agencies that will be involved in the digital sector’s growth, as there are currently too many parties involved.

"Currently, it mostly involves the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, but there are also other parties which are involved, so this requires coordination,” Mustapa said.

He added that elements of the digital economy blueprint had been established in various government agencies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), MDEC and others.

"We are studying on ways to boost the digital sector, as it has become more relevant and urgent for us to coordinate these efforts after COVID-19,” he said.

-- BERNAMA