From Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin
BARCELONA, Nov 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia plans to highlight its Digital City Initiative, which will be launched early next year at the Smart City Expo Kuala Lumpur 2025, showcasing innovative digital services and proof of concepts implemented.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer, Anuar Fariz Fadzil, said, the plan is to kick off the Digital City Initiative in six cities next year, creating a huge wave of digital city transformation in Malaysia.
He added that, with Malaysia assuming the ASEAN chairmanship in 2025, Smart City Expo Kuala Lumpur will serve as a pivotal platform for regional collaboration, thus supporting the country’s vision to become the leading digital city hub in ASEAN.
“The timing of the event coincides with Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship, which will draw interest from leaders and city administrators across the region,” he said, during a panel session at the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC 2024), on ‘Smart City Expo and Tomorrow Editions Abroad: A Global Conversation Throughout the Year,’ held here.
Malaysia will be the first Southeast Asian country to host the Smart City Expo on Sept 17-19, 2025.
Anuar Fariz said, Malaysia is keen to welcome over 2,000 delegates and 10,000 visitors, of which, at least 20 percent are from the international faculty.
This event will also be a catalyst for trade deals through foreign direct investments (FDIs) and domestic direct investments (DDIs), as well as to expand opportunities for local industry players.
“The most important note is that, we view this as an invaluable opportunity to promote Malaysia’s leadership on a global scale, in tech innovation and smart city development. “Therefore, I encourage each of you to actively support and champion this vision, as we work together to drive Malaysia’s digital future forward,” he added.– NNN-BERNAMA