Ministry calls for homegrown IP, R&D and technology commercialisation
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must become a country that develops, owns and commercialises its own technologies, says Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang.
He noted that the country must shift from “Made in Malaysia” to “Made by Malaysia” by owning intellectual property, developing native technologies, commercialising research and development (R&D) and creating home-grown solutions that strengthen our long-term economic resilience.
“Mosti is translating this vision into action through four indispensable pillars,” he said during his keynote address at the CloudTech and Data Centre Conference 2026 yesterday.
The four pillars focus on R&D and intellectual property, artificial intelligence (AI) governance and capabilities, green infrastructure and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration, as well as regional science, technology and innovation (STI) collaboration across Asean.
“Over the past three years, South-East Asia has emerged as a key hub for cloud and AI expansion, with Malaysia becoming one of the region’s most competitive destinations for digital infrastructure investment.
“Significant investments in hyperscale data centres across Johor, Cyberjaya, Kedah and Kuala Lumpur reflect growing confidence in Malaysia’s digital potential,” he added.
He further noted that under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), the government established an ambitious roadmap to transform our national economy.
“We aim to ‘raise the ceiling’ by advancing high-growth, high-value industries, strengthening competitiveness and accelerating talent upskilling and reskilling.
“We will also ‘raise the floor’ by leveraging STI to improve healthcare, expand assistive technologies, strengthen local vaccine production and enhance the quality of life for all Malaysians.
Chan noted that Malaysia spent RM18.16bil on R&D in 2022 and aims to raise this to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 (under the 13MP). This would translate to about RM63bil assuming an average annual GDP growth of 4.5% by the end of this year.
To achieve this goal, he said the private sector must drive growth, backed by government funding, incentives and co‑investment.
He added that with ready infrastructure and clear policy, the real key is collaboration.
“Let us not merely house the world’s data, but power it, innovate with it, and together build a resilient, inclusive and globally competitive digital future for Malaysia.
Also present at the conference were Star Media Group group chief executive officer Chan Seng Fatt and chief operating officer Lydia Wang.
Speaking at the conference, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Digital Adoption vice president Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad said Malaysia must pivot from traditional digital setups to a purpose‑built AI data centre ecosystem to lead in the global AI era.
“Achieving this requires sustainable policies and frameworks capable of balancing the critical demands of high-performance compute, power and cooling with long-term digital economy growth,” he said.
Meanwhile, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (Malaysia) country head Darryll Sinnappa advised small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to focus on specialisation to tap into Malaysia’s growing data centre industry.
“SMEs should not try to do everything in the data centre industry but instead pick one area to specialise in,” he said while noting that a data centre consists of five key areas.
They include computing services, power systems, air conditioning, security systems and IT systems.
“These are areas where you have to be a real expert to qualify to work with a data centre operator, instead of expecting to manage entire facilities outright,” he added.
The first day of the conference also featured a panel discussion on AI adoption, as well as stream sessions exploring topics on cybersecurity, digital trust, along with AI, cloud and sustainable infrastructure.
Organised by Star Media Group for the third time, the CloudTech & DataCentre Conference 2026 is endorsed by Mosti.
The event was held at Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur Sentral from Aug 12 to 13, aiming to bring together industry leaders and stakeholders to discuss the next phase of Malaysia’s digital development.
For more details, visit their website at https://conference.thestar.com.my/cloudtech/event/conference/
