KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The Government is concerned about the readiness of local industries, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to adopt Industry 4.0.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking said the government had made a large allocation in the 2019 Budget to assess the readiness of SMEs to adopt automation and industry 4.0.

"We have seen a number of them having completed preparations on their own initiative by making themselves ready through enhancing the automation of their production lines.

"The government will assist those who are not ready so that no one will be left behind,” he told reporters after witnessing the exchange of a memorandum of understanding between MIMOS Bhd and Microsoft Malaysia here today.

However, Darell did not elaborate on how the allocation would be channelled to SMEs.

On another note, he said Malaysians were fast in adopting to technological changes and the many training centres available for technology conversion in the country could help expedite the adoption of Industry 4.0.

"Among the key learnings from those countries that have already embarked on their industry 4.0 transformation is the need to pay attention to enablers.

"This has been highlighted in the National Policy on Industry 4.0, where the government fully appreciates the importance of skills and technology in driving innovation in a country,” Darell said.

The minister added that October’s RM96.3 billion in exports showed that manufactured goods from Malaysia were in high demand and adopting industry 4.0 was unavoidable to maintain competitiveness. — Bernama