KUALA LUMPUR: The allocation of RM210 million for Readiness Assessment Programme and RM3 billion for the Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund in the 2019 Budget tabled on Friday will significantly improve the adoption of Industry 4.0 related technologies to increase productivity and competitiveness of the business in Malaysia.
“The key measures will further galvanise our economy through innovation and technology, propelling the nation towards becoming a key player in The Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“We look forward to the direction that our country is taking and the new economic opportunities being realised from the launch of the Readiness Assessment Programme and the implementation of the Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund,” Trend Micro Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Goh Chee Hoh said in a statement today.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said during the unveiling of the 2019 Budget said the government is creating a RM3 billion Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund with a subsidised interest rate of two per cent under Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd.
He said the purpose of this fund is to accelerate the adoption of smart technology consisting of driving automation, robotics and artificial intelligence in the industry.
The government will also allocates RM210 million from 2019 to 2021 to support the transition and migration to Industry 4.0, and will assist the first 500 SMEs to carry out the Readiness Assessment to migrate to Industry 4.0 platforms via Malaysia Productivity Corporation.
ends
NetApp Malaysia Sdn Bhd Malaysia and Brunei country manager Azrin Abd Shukor said the introduction of the Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund and Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (MIDA) High Impact Fund are also a timely move as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning become more pervasive in the Malaysian business ecosystem.
“Ultimately, for the rakyat, businesses and government to succeed collectively in this journey, it is important that they place data at the heart of their digital transformation efforts.
“This is even more so as innovation and the explosion of devices have resulted in data becoming more dynamic, distributed and diverse.
“The 2019 Budget recognises this and have placed us on the right path to achieve this and more and at NetApp we look forward to becoming a significant contributor to Malaysia’s transformation,” he said.
Gartner Inc research vice president Tervinderjit Singh said the company is very supportive of the plan to offer RM2 billion in financial assistance to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt Industry 4.0 related technologies, especially when these digital services will help open up new markets for the industry.
“SMEs want to digitise but the lack of financial resources is hindering progress. This assistance, if channelled and utilised properly, is a positive step towards driving Industry 4.0 in Malaysia and supporting SMEs as they continue embracing digital transformation.
“This is in line with Gartner’s predictions that every industry will be transformed by digital business by 2025.
“The 2019 Budget is a testament to the new government’s ambition to accelerate the adoption of Industry 4.0 in Malaysia among businesses. Gartner is confident that with the initiatives announced in Budget 2019, Malaysia continues to be on the right track towards becoming a fully digitised nation,” he said.