MoF implements national regulatory sandbox initiative

Mohd Irwan: The Budget 2016 proposals will also focus on Bumiputera entrepreneurship development

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has started to implement the National Regulatory Sandbox Initiative which involves the creation of a brain-storming group from regulators and selected industry players to enable innovators to test their solutions or products in a conducive environment.

Its Secretary-General, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, said the government wanted the regulators to have an open mind on the rapidly-changing technology and amend appropriate laws for the implementation of the new initiative.

"For investors and young entrepreneurs as well as startup companies to start business, regulations or business rules must be appropriate and conducive for them to operate.

"Sometimes the regulators are too slow to introduce the Act or change the regulations that resulted in the industry not being able to operate, like for the Uber's service, which took a year to introduce," he told the media after launching the National Regulatory Sandbox Initiative here today.

He said the sectors identified for the Sandbox Initiative were agriculture; biotechnology; building; education; energy; financial; food; green technology; healthcare; hospitality; smart city; sports; telecommunication; transportation; tourism; water management; and, waste management.  

Irwan Serigar, who is also Chairman of the National Regulatory Sandbox Taskforce, said that for the purpose, the National Strategy Unit at the Ministry of Finance, together with Futurise Centre @ Cyberjaya and the Malaysian Global Innovation  and  Creativity Centre (Magic), has set up the National Regulatory Sandbox Secretariat to ensure its successful implementation.

He said the initiative would enable Malaysia to compete with other developed countries and attract foreign and domestic investors to invest in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, he said, to make Cyberjaya a Living Lab for the initiative, also involved efforts to upgrade the city's infrastructure, payment using the e-payment platform and boosting the Internet speed to fifth generation (5G), he said.

“Next week we will announce the multinational companies interested in developing Cyberjaya as Smart City and one of its components is the 5G Internet service," he said. - Bernama