Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday launched the National Policy on Industry 4.0 known as Industry4WRD -- a four-pronged strategy to boost Malaysia’s manufacturing sector via higher productivity, contribution, innovation and more high-skilled workers.

The four specific goals announced on Wednesday are:

1. To increase the level of productivity in the manufacturing industry per person from RM106,647 by 30%;

2. To elevate the absolute contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economy from RM254bil to RM392bil.

3. To strengthen the country’s innovation capacity and capability as reflected by the improvement in Global Innovation Index ranking from 35th spot to top 30 and; 

4. To increase the number of high-skilled workers  in the manufacturing sector from 18% to 35%.

The National Policy on Industry 4.0 known as Industry4WRD was Malaysia’s response to the call for digital transformation of the manufacturing sector and its related services.

“The Industry4WRD is a pivotal step as Malaysia seeks to strengthen its on-going structural reforms to become a developed nation that is equitable, sustainable and inclusive by 2025 or even earlier,” according to a statement issued by MITI.

Speaking at the launch of Industry4WRD at the MITI tower, the Prime Minister said a readiness to adapt to the Industry 4.0 Revolution would have a bearing on economic success and Malaysia needs to quickly embrace it to propel productivity and further enhance competitiveness.

"Manufacturing firms in Malaysia, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), have the potential to gain advantage from the adoption of Industry 4.0.

“With this in mind, the Industry4WRD policy was developed to propel SMEs forward, so that they can be agile and adaptable to meet the challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

"As part of the Industry4WRD Policy, the Readiness Assessment programme will further assist SMEs to measure their gaps and readiness, in order to guide their adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies," he said in his keynote address at the launch.

He said the Industry4WRD is Malaysia’s response to Industry 4.0 and beyond, that calls for transformation of the manufacturing sector and its related services to be smarter and stronger, driven by people, process and technology.

"Contemporary economies are now dominated by modern service sector activities. However, the most robust and resilient economies globally retain strong manufacturing sectors. 

"We have always maintained that to grow our economy, the manufacturing sector, must remain the backbone, supported by other sectors such as commodities and services," he said.

The Prime Minister said while Malaysia had abundant natural resources and had diversified into the services sector, manufacturing played a key role in turning the country into a major player in the global value chain, apart from rapidly turning it into an industrialised nation.

"In the last five years, the manufacturing sector has been contributing about 23 per cent to the gross domestic product. Further, about 98.5 per cent of Malaysian SMEs are in the manufacturing sector. 

"It is the manufacturing sector that allows Malaysia to consistently demonstrate dynamism and resilience to grow, while attracting foreign direct investments," he added.

He said ultimately, the policy would drive Malaysia to become a strategic partner for smart manufacturing and related services in the Asia Pacific, a primary destination for the hi-tech industry, as well  as a total solutions provider for advanced technology.

"I believe, this can all be achieved through Industry4WRD which enables the manufacturing sector to move into Industry 4.0 and along the way, contribute to fulfilling Malaysia’s commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

"This policy is a collaborative effort of both the government and industry. Extensive stakeholder consultations have been undertaken in the past year to develop it," Dr Mahathir added.

He said that Industry4WRD can be a clear strategic direction for the nation since these technologies apply across the board. 

He said the necessity for Malaysia to have its own policies to address Industry 4.0 is critical and the introduction of Industry4WRD marks the starting point to the wider Industrial Revolution for Malaysia.

According to Dr Mahathir, with this policy in place, the government anticipates that by 2025 Malaysia will be one of the primary destinations for high-tech industry and rank among the top 30 nations in the Global Innovation Index.

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