CYDES 2025 Reaffirms Malaysia's Ambition As Regional Cybersecurity Hub - Shamsul Azri

PUTRAJAYA, July 3 (Bernama) -- The Cyber Defence and Security Exhibition and Conference (CYDES) 2025 has showcased Malaysia’s cybersecurity capabilities and reaffirmed the country's ambition to be a leading regional hub, fostering strategic collaboration to strengthen cyber resilience nationally and globally.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said CYDES 2025 marks a significant milestone in Malaysia’s journey toward becoming a cyber-resilient nation, one that is equipped to defend, adapt, and thrive in an increasingly digital world. 

"This year’s strong participation, with representatives from 27 countries, 304 exhibitors, including the largest international delegation from China with 23 companies, and over 11,000 attendees, exceeded expectations and reinforced CYDES’s standing as a leading platform for thought leadership, innovation, and international collaboration.

"I am particularly heartened by the strong international participation at CYDES 2025. Throughout the event, pivotal conferences such as the 3rd Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy Forum 2025 and the 3rd ASEAN Cyber Security Forum 2025 provided valuable platforms to discuss emerging trends, share best practices, and foster collaboration," he said in his speech at the closing ceremony of CYDES 2025, here today.

Shamsul Azri said high-level engagements, such as the ASEAN Cyber Leaders Roundtable, ASEAN-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue, ASEAN Cyber Cooperation Strategy 2026-2030 Workshop, Session Related to China’s Cyber Security Development, and 12 bilateral meetings, have deepened Malaysia’s regional and international partnerships, reflecting a shared commitment to strengthen policy coordination, build mutual trust, and advance collective action and in addressing today’s complex cyber security challenges. 

He said among the achievements of CYDES 2025, was the exchange of Memorandums of Understanding between the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) and six higher learning institutions, paving the way for enhanced cyber security capacity, knowledge sharing, and talent development to feed both public and private sector needs.

Shamsul Azri said a series of high-impact workshops and industry-driven sessions that enabled direct B2B (business to business) and B2G (business to government) engagement, has fostered business opportunities, policy alignment, and actionable cooperation among cyber security vendors, solution providers and national critical information infrastructure operators. 

"As part of our cyber-capacity building line-up, initiatives such as the ASEAN My Cyber Hero 2025, which engaged 13,128 students including accompanying teachers from Malaysia and Thailand, served as more than just a competition; it became a movement to inspire and equip a new generation of cyber security defenders across the region. 

"Together, these achievements reflect the multifaceted strength of CYDES 2025 as a platform that not only advances technical capacity and policy dialogue, but also accelerates innovation, strengthens public-private-academic collaboration, and nurtures a resilient cyber ecosystem," he said.

Themed ‘Advancing Cyber Resilience’, the three-day event which ended today, is organised by the National Security Council (Prime Minister’s Department) and NACSA, in collaboration with Alpine Integrated Solution Sdn Bhd (AIS).

-- BERNAMA