Local companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to consider the Internet of Things, or IoT solution as a tool to drive growth, said Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry.
“I encourage more local companies, SMEs and start-up technopreneurs to explore the adoption and implementation of IoT as a means to add value in their products and services as well as to increase productivity and efficiency towards scaling up their businesses,” said the Minister of MITI at the seminar on IoT Malaysia 2017 co-organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and Intel yesterday at MITI.
The holding of this seminar is timely and relevant as the world has come to an era which calls for a digital transformation. IoT, which is a component of Industry 4.0 is no longer just a futuristic concept but is actually happening now and is already transforming every aspect of people’s lives.
Realising that IoT holds tremendous potentials that cut across all industries in the world, the Minister urged industry players to seize the growing opportunities. “Industry players need to change the way they do business, to align to emerging IoTs and Industry 4.0 applications.”
This call is in line with the government’s direction to make Malaysia the leading industrial hub for high technology products and activities in the ASEAN region.
“Malaysia is privileged to have good engineering capabilities, skilled workforce and a strong manufacturing base. These create an enabling structure towards materialising this important agenda. Global companies and MNCs are welcome to make Malaysia as their regional development hub for high technology products and activities in the region. At the same time, we look forward to more high quality investments, both from domestic and foreign sources, particularly in related catalytic sectors such as electrical & electronics (E&E) and machinery & equipment (M&E),” said the MITI Minister.
Recognising the challenges that companies go through in the execution of Industry 4.0, particularly in filling the gaps in the country’s IoT ecosystem, the Minister sees the need to form strong partnerships between the government, the industry players and all the other stakeholders.
The Minister also reiterated that “Many SMEs are capable of developing the supporting technologies such as chip packaging technology, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and high technology electronic components, but they just have not had access to the right IoT platform. This is where MNCs can play a strong role to support local companies and SMEs to grow. If MNCs can give SMEs a helping hand, just like what Intel is doing today, local companies and SMEs can leverage on the established IoT platforms of these MNCs,” he added.
The seminar ran for a full day, and addressed topics such as the IoT Landscape in the World, IoT Success Case Studies and Market Segment Readiness for IoT. It was attended by more than 800 participants from various industry sectors.
The seminar was being held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of MIDA. It also marked Intel’s continuous efforts towards further developing Malaysia’s economic growth. In his speech, the Minister highlighted that “Intel has contributed much to the development of Malaysia’s economy. It has been at the forefront in driving the country’s industrial development, particularly in the E&E sector.”
