MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS ON 'CYBER SECURITY' TO SUPPORT AI INFRASTRUCTURE - MITI

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) is expecting to make one or two big announcements in the coming days as a result of the recent Cyber Security Bill 2024 that was passed in April.

Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the passing of the bill was important to the industry as it protects and enhances the nation's cyber security through compliance with specific measures, standards and processes in managing cyber security threats.

“However, I do admit that we are just building the infrastructure (on AI), so I think we need time to compete with Singapore.

"But it has resulted positively, for example in the case of Microsoft, because that was one of the concerns raised before they (Microsoft) made their investment announcement (US$2.2 billion investment in Malaysia's cloud and AI transformation)," he said in a media briefing here on the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS).

Tengku Zafrul said this when asked to comment about a report by East Asia Forum, where AI venture capital investment is largely (about 75%) concentrated in Singapore with (US$8.4 billion) surpassing other big ASEAN economies like Indonesia (US$1.9 billion), Malaysia (US$371 million), Thailand (US$255 million), the Philippines (US$126 million) and Vietnam (US$95 million).

According to the report, Southeast Asia is projected to reap considerable economic benefits from using artificial intelligence (AI), estimated to increase the region's total gross domestic product (GDP) by up to US$950 billion or 13% by 2030.

As the trajectory for AI innovation and regulation evolves, it said a more comprehensive regulatory framework is urgently needed to complement the newly introduced ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics.

Early this month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was reported as saying there is a need for a robust ecosystem to build a nexus for AI in the country and the pace must be accelerated.