Malaysia supports the Bucharest Declaration on building a digital future
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia in principle supports the aspirations of the Bucharest Declaration regarding ‘Building a Better Digital Future for All’ thus confirming the nation’s collective commitment to universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation.
Minister of Communications and Multimedia Tan Sri Annuar Musa said it has become Malaysia’s priority to accelerate the use of robust networks and prepare the country for the transition to a digital economy and to achieve this, has declared communication as a utility, just like water and electricity.
“We have also launched a high-level national agenda under the Digital Malaysia Digital Economy Action Plan (MyDIGITAL) and the National Digital Network (JENDELA) to ensure broadband coverage and quality to make Malaysia a high-income, digital-based country and a regional leader in the economy digital,” he said.
He said this during the Ministerial Round Table session at the International Telecommunications Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (ITU PP22) in Bucharest, Romania.
However, Annuar said in ensuring universal access and fair and inclusive use of telecommunications and ICT towards digital transformation to empower the people, access and use of digitization for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) especially in developing countries needs to be addressed.
“Therefore, a large part of the digital transformation in Malaysia involves the active use of e-commerce and digitization by our PMKS. The digital economy is a key component of Malaysia’s economic strength,” he said.
Currently, the digital economy contributes 22.6 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is expected to reach 25.5 percent by 2025.
Annuar said to drive the contribution of the digital economy, the government has introduced the e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR) 2.0 to facilitate cross-border digital opportunities that prioritize the involvement of local businesses and PMKS in e-Commerce, which targets 875,000 PMKS that use e-Commerce by 2025.
“Malaysia is of the view that universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation go beyond the implementation of enabling infrastructure and technology.
“We are committed to working together towards realizing the five commitments and 10 key principles outlined in the Bucharest Declaration on Building a Better Digital Future for All,” he said.
He led the Malaysian delegation to ITU PP22 in Bucharest, Romania which starts today (26 Sept) until 14 Oct.
ITU PP22, which saw the participation of 181 countries, is very special and significant for the country because Malaysia will lobby to occupy a seat in the ITU Council under Region E (Asia and Australasia) for the 2023-2026 term.
source – BERNAMA
