KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has proposed that the 2018 Budget include an incentive to spur growth of the automation ecosystem among local manufacturers and accelerate the Industry 4.0 transformation in the country.

Second MITI Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said Industry 4.0 was an agenda that needs to be prioritised as it affects Malaysia’s overall production and competitiveness in the international market. 

"We must give manufacturers an incentive because they need to invest towards automating their plants with new technology. They have to also switch from the conventional manual manufacturing process to digitalisation.

"We have to help our manufacturers, small and medium enterprises, to equip themselves with high technology at the initial stage,” he told reporters after officiating the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Industry 4.0 Conference here today.

Ong said the manufacturing industry players should also look at expanding market size beyond Malaysia to achieve the Industry 4.0 goals, as the domestic segment was not big enough to sustain it.

He urged manufacturers to also make an effort at including value-added features in their materials rather than selling them raw. — Bernama