Malaysia Ranked Second Among ASEAN Countries In Digital Nations Index 2025

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has been ranked second among ASEAN countries in the inaugural GSMA Digital Nations Index 2025, positioning it as a regional leader in digital readiness, behind only Singapore.

According to the report titled Achieving the ASEAN Connectivity Strategic Plan, Malaysia achieved an aggregate score of over 60 out of 100, placing it in the top tier of digitally advanced countries in the region, alongside the Philippines and Thailand.

The index assesses each ASEAN member state’s digital readiness across five key components: infrastructure, innovation, data governance, security and people.

Malaysia’s strongest performance was in the People component, where it scored in the highest range of 76-100, reflecting the country’s sustained efforts to broaden access to digital services and enhance the digital competencies of its workforce.

However, the report also identified areas for improvement, with Malaysia scoring only moderately in Infrastructure, Innovation and Security, all within the 25-49 range.

The GSMA report also commended several of Malaysia’s key strategic initiatives to accelerate its digital transformation. Among them was the launch of the AI Nation Framework in August 2025, a national strategy designed to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits every citizen.

In the innovation space, the report highlighted the launch of Ryt Bank, Malaysia’s first fully AI-powered banking service. The service utilises a homegrown large-language model named ILMU to process natural conversation in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Manglish, making banking services more intuitive and accessible.

On the infrastructure front, the report noted significant investment in Malaysia’s digital economy. It cited a Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) disclosure in July 2025 that total investments more than doubled to RM29.47 billion (US$7 billion) in the second quarter of the year, largely driven by the data centre and cloud computing segments.

The report also recognised Malaysia’s progress in strengthening its legal and regulatory framework through the enactment of the Cyber Security Act 2024 and the release of new Guidelines on Cross-Border Personal Data Transfer in April 2025.

Overall, the GSMA report concluded that realising ASEAN’s development plans would require concerted efforts to improve digital readiness, calling on member nations to bridge infrastructure gaps, accelerate regional policy harmonisation and leverage international cooperation.

-- BERNAMA