KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Malaysia is working to set up a tech trade hub in the UK, its second largest technology investor, by early 2017 to focus on digital businesses.

Malaysian officials from the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) are currently on a tour in the UK, signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with some cyber security groups there, The Telegraph reported.

MDEC CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood reportedly said that British firms have shown a lot more hunger since the referendum last June when Britons voted to leave the European Union.

"We do find that since the Brexit vote there is a lot more hunger, more interest in the other potential markets,” she was quoted saying.

"British firms have the potential to come into a leadership position in this geography (Malaysia and Southeast Asia).

"We were already working towards this before the vote, but now there is more receptivity from people who have not thought about Malaysia in the past.”

Among the MoUs signed were with PGI Cyber Academy in Bristol to provide training and consulting services in Malaysia; the University of Salford to work on technological research and development, and an exchange partnership with the Future Cities Catapult in London.

The London office will be only be MDEC’s second overseas office after one in Silicon Valley.