Industry 4.0 policy completed

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has completed the draft of the National Policy on Industry 4.0 and will make an announcement on the new policy soon, according to International Trade and Industry (Miti) Minister Darell Leiking.
Speaking at a press conference in conjunction with the networking session with chambers of commerce and business and industry associations today, Darell said that the government will serve as an enabler in driving the digital transformation in the manufacturing and related services sector.
“I believe that by providing an enabling ecosystem for the manufacturing sector to thrive by adopting new technologies, we can ensure that Malaysia will remain as an attractive prospect for high-technology, innovative and high value-added industries in years to come.
“The government has undertaken all due processes in finalising the draft policy including engaging as many stakeholders as possible and we will continue with these engagements more during the implementation phase later on,” he added.
Darell said that the ministry is also planning to formulate a new industrial master plan post year 2020.
He said among the focus areas will be sustainable development of industries, including green technology initiatives along the horizontal and vertical value chain of the manufacturing sector.
“We will take stock of current plan and initiatives in place and will undertake consultation with various stakeholders in due course,” he added.
Additionally, Darell said that a comprehensive consultation dialogue session with stakeholders,will be organised in the first quarter of next year.
He said the dialogue will serve as a platform to discuss business and industry related issues as well as measures to ensure the solutions are beneficial to the stakeholders and business environment.
On a separate matter, Darell revealed that InvestKL and Exim Bank Malaysia will soon be placed under the ministry (Miti) to complement its existing agency Malaysia External Trade Development Corp’s function in facilitating Malaysia’s global businesses by providing necessary banking and credit support in cross-border business ventures.
Exim Bank is currently an agency under the purview of the Finance Ministry.
On the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Darell said the government is undertaking further analysis and needs more time to evaluate the agreement and its benefits as well as its impact to Malaysia as a whole.
At the moment, Mexico, Japan and Singapore have ratified the agreement.
The networking session was attended by 150 officials representing 74 national and international chambers of commerce and business and industry associations in Malaysia.