BORACAY (Philippines), Feb 10 — Malaysia will continue to actively contribute to the development agenda of the telecommunications and digital technology sector in the Asean region.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this commitment will be implemented through projects outlined in the Asean Digital Masterplan 2025 (ADM2025) launched in Kuala Lumpur in January 2021.
ADM2025 listed eight outcomes, including speeding up Asean’s recovery from Covid-19; increasing the quality and coverage of broadband infrastructure; delivery of trusted digital services; and creating a sustainable competitive market for the supply of digital services.
This is in line with Malaysia’s participation in the 3rd Asean Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN3) to strengthen the role of ICT as the primary driver of Asean’s economic and social transformation post-Covid-19.
Speaking to Bernama, Fahmi, who is leading the Malaysian delegation to ADGMIN3 held on Feb 9 and 10 in Boracay, described the meeting as a “full and fruitful two days”.
“Emphasis was also given to scam and cybersecurity issues, as well as our commitment to work together to enhance digitalisation and have better cooperation in the digital economy. We also discussed data privacy, data protection and data utilisation across countries.
“It has been a very good session, and I look forward to more work in these sectors in the near future. There will be a lot of follow-up at the ministry level, not only strengthening bilateral aspect but also within the context of Asean to develop a certain regulatory framework,” he said.
The ADGMIN3 meeting themed “Synergised Asean: Human-Centric Approach to a Sustainable Digital Transformation” was chaired by Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology Minister Ivan John E. Uy.
The meeting also endorsed the Boracay Declaration, which outlines the commitment of Asean member states in 2023 to strengthen cooperation towards the development of the telecommunications and digital technology sector.
However, Fahmi said all agreements made in the meeting do not represent Malaysia’s stance to recognise the State Administration Council (SAC) as the legitimate government of Myanmar.
“Malaysia has always emphasised that the SAC should speed up efforts to find a solution to the political crisis in Myanmar,” he said. — Bernama
