PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is confident that Malaysia will be able to leverage 5G within the next three years.
This, he said, is achievable with the necessary preparations in place to usher the transformational technology.
“Malaysia should be able to leverage 5G within the next three years, enabling the country to punch above its weight and catapulting the national economy towards strong and sustainable growth,“ he said at the 5G Malaysia Showcase launch, here today.
Mahathir said Malaysia had come a long way and yet there was still a distance to go, adding that today’s initiative was the cornerstone of Malaysia’s march into the new age and a vital foundation to remain relevant and competitive.
“The businesses are our main stakeholders and we need to continue improving the environment for the businesses to prosper.
“This is where the government aims to create an environment conducive for growth from ensuring ubiquitous connectivity through the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) to forming the National 5G Taskforce in November 2018 to identify the potential uses for 5G, discuss impediments in adopting this new technology and provide ideas and solutions for 5G implementation in the country,“ he said.
Mahathir said 5G marked an inflection point in the future of communications taking the nation into a dimension which is some time beyond the imagination.
He said back in 1996 when he launched the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) to encourage the emergence and rise of the tech industry locally, it was at a period when the world was facing unprecedented change.
“Precipitated by the information age, borders were disappearing due to the ease of global communications, capital flows, the movements of goods and people across the globe,“ he said.
Mahathir said it was then envisaged that Malaysia should and could be an exporter of technology.
In addition, he said the MSC was to showcase to Malaysians of the technological possibilities that existed and the endless possibilities they offered.
“Since its inception in 1996, the MSC has generated over RM47 billion in revenues from more than 3,000 companies and created more than 160,000 jobs,“ he said.
To this, Mahathir said the opportunities for growth remain, very much due to the ever-expanding boundaries of the digital economy.
“When the MSC was introduced, the internet was still nascent. Today, we are facing yet another unprecedented change.
“Triggered by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the borderless world is now beginning to shape itself into the age of boundless connectivity where machines can communicate without human intervention through the Internet of Things (IoT),“ he said.
Thus, he said it was capable to make automation more intelligent and subsequently driving a near-endless array of services and applications. — Bernama
