Malaysia to set up joint cooperation council with India to enhance bilateral co-operation, exchange of experiences and digital technology-based solutions

KUALA LUMPUR, 23 August 2024- The Ministry of Digital has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance and exchange digital technology-based solutions with India.

Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said that for the effective implementation of this MoU, a Malaysia-India Digital Council (MIDC) will be established.

Gobind said that the “terms of reference” of the MoU will be mutually determined once it is established.

The Minister was on a three-day official visit to India together with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The visit was to enhance cooperation as well as explore initiatives to further strengthen Malaysia-India relations.

Among the initiatives in the MoU are the sharing of experiences and exchange of technical expertise in digital public infrastructures (“DPIs”) and e-governance solutions, policy and regulatory approaches relating to digital technologies and exploring business-to-business (“B2B”) partnership collaboration between Industry Associations of both countries.

MIDC will also look at collaborations between the startup, and small and medium-sized enterprise (“SMEs”) ecosystems including investments in both countries in a mutually beneficial manner by establishing linkages between relevant organisations.

Another pertinent issue is to enhance co-operation between Computer Emergency Response Teams (“CERTs”) on cyber security of both countries.

MIDC will also identify and explore innovative ways of imparting upskilling and reskilling pertaining to digital talent in emerging digital technologies to foster economic growth and innovation.

The Ministry of Digital will be exploring collaborations with relevant stakeholders in the tech industry to implement the joint actions stated in the MoU. It is in line with the Prime Minister’s directive to start the process within the next three months.

The Minister said that they are confident that strengthening of bilateral relations and enhanced collaborations by way of the MIDC can further boost Malaysia’s digital economy, which is projected to contribute at least 25.5% to the Malaysian GDP by end-2025.

Gobind also witnessed two MoU exchanges between NASSCOM, a not-for-profit technology industry association in India, and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM).