Malaysia Digital Economy on Track

The digital economy is on track to contribute 18% to the country’s gross domestic product this year, said Malaysia Digital Economy Corp chief executive officer Yasmin Mahmood. “The target of the 11th Malaysia Plan is to have an 18% contribution from the digital economy by 2020. It is on track and in the right direction,” she told NST Business recently, MalayNews reported. Yasmin said last year, all four pillars under the Championing Malaysia’s Digital Economy Agenda—driving investments, building local tech champions, catalyzing digital innovation ecosystems and digital inclusivity—achieved commendable performance. On driving investments, measured by the performance of MSC Malaysia companies, MDEC recorded new investments totaling RM16.3 billion ($3.7 billion) last year, up from RM4.57 billion in 2015. Yasmin said of this sum, RM6.43 billion was from new investors. She said the RM9.84 billion from existing investors was also a promising figure despite the challenging economic landscape.