The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is replacing MSC Malaysia with Malaysia Digital, said to be a new and enhanced initiative that “will serve to accelerate Malaysia’s digital economy and create substantial digital economic spill-over through equitable access to digital tools, knowledge, and income opportunities.”
Malaysia Digital is also set to enhance Malaysia’s value proposition to attract digital investments through a new framework centred on three primary components: Agility, Flexibility, and Relevance.
MDEC said that Malaysia Digital will offer greater agility for local and international tech companies by providing more options and flexibility for companies to choose from competitive fiscal and/or non-fiscal incentives. It also seeks to expand beyond designated locations into a nationwide initiative, providing more flexibility and opportunity for companies to grow, expand, or reinvest anywhere within Malaysia. It will also feature improved governance and processes to meet the industries’ diverse needs at speed.
Malaysia Digital’s new framework will see – among other improvements – a refresh of the Bill of Guarantees, non-location-based incentives, and an expansion of locations for MSC promoted activities.
Under the Malaysia Digital initiative, the Government and MDEC will also be introducing two initial catalytic projects, namely DE Rantau and Malaysia Digital Trade.
DE Rantau is a programme with the goal to establish Malaysia as the preferred Digital Nomad Hub in a bid to boost digital adoption and to promote digital professional mobility and tourism across the country.
Malaysia Digital Trade, on the other hand, is one of the catalytic initiatives under Malaysia Digital to capitalise on the immense opportunities in digitalisation that has been accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The Malaysia Digital Trade initiative will drive interoperability and greater harmonisation of standards and regulatory approaches as well as to facilitate trade within and across borders.
The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia was established to accelerate the growth of the country’s digital economy. It is a special economic zone designed to support the innovative ecosystem of IT and IT-enabled industries and the growth of the country’s digital economy.
There are over 2,700 MSC status companies in Malaysia.
