KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) is actively looking into fostering tech hubs in East Malaysia by providing training, resources, and mentorship to budding tech entrepreneurs.
Deputy Minister Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said the ministry is engaging with local communities to understand their needs and ensure that the tech advancements are inclusive and beneficial to all parties.
“Borneo has a huge tech potential that Malaysia has yet to explore fully, and this is our priority towards narrowing the gap (with Peninsular Malaysia).
“The region offers a fresh perspective and has a goldmine of opportunities for local entrepreneurs,” he said in the “Connecting the Dots: Driving The Success of Malaysia’s Tech Start-ups” panel discussion at the Kuala Lumpur Venture Finance Decodes here today.
Arthur said one of the significant challenges in East Malaysia has been the digital divide, primarily due to infrastructure constraints such as telecommunications.
However, he said East Malaysia has good resources, such as the largest coal deposit located in Merit Pila in central Sarawak and the Meliau basin in south central Sabah.
Hence, local entrepreneurs and startups are encouraged to venture into green energy as it has a high market potential, said the deputy minister.
In another note, Arthur said the importance of local support and infrastructure for startups to scale within Malaysia cannot be understated.
He said MOSTI has been driving several initiatives to bolster the startup ecosystem, such as the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap 2021-2030, which outlined the vision and strategies for advancing science, technology, and innovation.
“We’re fostering collaborations between startups and established industries and actively working with the agencies under MOSTI to carry out various facilitation and business scaling activities covering many areas such as funding, digitisation, certification as well as access to local and international markets, while also striving to nurture and upskill our tech talent,” he added.
