Malaysia sets up new Digital Investment Office

• DIO is a fully-digital collaborative platform between MIDA and MDEC
• Objective: to create awareness on digital investments and to strengthen IPA coordination

THE NATIONAL Council of Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution (MED4IR), chaired by Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, has endorsed the establishment of the Digital Investment Office (DIO) to facilitate digital investments in Malaysia.

The DIO, which role is consistent with the MyDigital Blueprint and the National Investment Aspirations, is a fully-digital collaborative platform between the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to coordinate and facilitate all digital investments, MDEC said in a statement.

The objective is to create awareness on digital investments in the country and to strengthen the coordination among all Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) in promoting and attracting new investments in this fast-evolution segment.

“The digital economy is the engine of future growth for Malaysia,” said Mohamed Azmin Ali, minister of international trade and industry (MITI).

“The setting up of this DIO is indeed timely in line with the evolution of the investment landscape in the region towards digitalisation and Industry 4.0, as it will create a unique value proposition for the upcoming digital investments.”

Azmin said the government is optimistic that with this structured governance in investment promotion and facilitation, Malaysia’s digital ecosystem will be further strengthened and primed for the future, ensuring the country remains competitive on the path of recovery post-Covid.

Arham Abdul Rahman, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mida, reiterated both agencies’ commitment to facilitate quality investments into the country, including digital investments.

“This DIO builds upon Malaysia’s aspiration to position as a digital hub in the region. As the principal investment promotion and development agency of the country under MITI, Mida looks forward to work closely with MDEC to accelerate the growth of digital investments, which will indirectly develop more highly skilled local professionals and groom digital global champions.”

Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC (pic), said the DIO is “a game changer”, as it will be the single point of contact for investors in the country’s digital economy.

“It is a significant milestone for the investment facilitation, combining Mida’s global infrastructure and MDEC’s subject matter expertise in the digital economy ecosystem to attract high quality digital investments to benefit our businesses and people, in line with our agenda of Malaysia 5.0.”