According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) CEO Mahadhir Aziz, scaleups should invest in talent upskilling rather than digital technology alone to enhance their company strength.
“We take a different approach. We believe scaleups should invest in upskilling their talent to strengthen their business foundation,” he says to Business Today.
He says with this strategy, scaleups will be able to adapt with ongoing efforts to nurture new digital talents in the country.
MDEC’s initiatives include programmes for Scaleups to enhance upskilling and reskilling in digital skills.
“For its upskilling and reskilling initiatives, MDEC has the Let’s Learn Digital Programme, which provides in-demand digital skills through partnerships with organisations such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.
“The Digital Skills Training Directory, on the other hand, is a one-stop guide to digital reskilling and upskilling, offering a catalogue of 250 online courses covering areas of FinTech, data science, cybersecurity, software development, game development, animation, and global business services,” he says.
MDEC also introduced the MyDigitalWorkForce Work in Tech (MYWiT), a training and hiring incentive programme with aims to upskill and subsidise talents and businesses with RM100 million in training and salary incentives.
MYWiT is expected to benefit more than 300 companies, with an estimated 6,000 job opportunities to be created.
But to take advantage of these offerings, entrepreneurs are urged to reach out to MDEC.
Entrepreneurs who are unsure which programme fits their company can come forward and consult with MDEC, he says.
“We strongly urge scaleups to get in touch with us and seek out suitable programmes that will help them strengthen their operations and scale their business,” he told Business Today.
Digital Content Industry
Speaking on the Digital Content Grant (DCG), he says it supports local digital creative companies in developing, producing, co-producing, and marketing their digital content in animation, digital games, and interactive media content.
“The total digital content industry in Malaysia, which includes the animation industry, is worth RM 7.9 billion and has created 11,753 jobs as of 2020.
“There are now over 150 homegrown studios in Malaysia. From 2019 to 2021, a total of 79 IPs were created as part of MDEC’s various programmes.
“The DCG has benefited digital creators amid COVID-19 as it provided them with an avenue to continue production and generate income. We also foresee an uptake of participants to the Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP). MTEP is a specially designed pass to attract tech startup entrepreneurs, experienced tech entrepreneurs, and investors to work or invest in tech industries in Malaysia,” he says.
Key Sectors
Mahadhir revealed in the interview that MDEC has identified five key sectors that will become the focus of startups and which are based on the national digitalisation plans.
“The sectors that have been identified as key drivers are AgTech, HealthTech, Islamic Digital Economy and FinTech, CleanTech, and EduTech.
“These industries are based on the strategic national industries for digitalisation and have also been mapped to the national priority sectors.”
He also explains the impact of digitalisation in these industries will have on investment, jobs, and contribution to the GDP.
“The size and potential of these sectors would also draw large global companies, where Malaysia could benefit from international partnerships with local companies and resulting in knowledge transfer”, he explains.
