39000 new jobs touted as Malaysia commits to 5G

The government of Malaysia is forecasting the creation of 39,000 new jobs as plans to roll-out 5G across the country heightens.

Revealed during the 5G Malaysia International Conference in Langkawi, the nation has so far demonstrated 72 use cases involving nine industry verticals at 56 live sites with a total investment of US$35.16 million from key market players – 35 of the use cases are based in Langkawi.

According to YB Gobind Singh Deo – minister of Communications and Multimedia (MCMC) – 5G will allow Malaysia to produce and manufacture more high-quality goods and services while “further benefiting the people with better products and services”.

“Recognising its potential, the government of Malaysia through the MCMC is leading the way by proactively taking the necessary steps to develop this new and emerging ecosystem,” he said.

Expected benefits from 5G technology in Malaysia include a boost to agriculture, the government claimed. The country’s food import bills have increased from $2.58 billion in 1998 to $14.75 billion in 2020.

“With 5G-enabled precision farming, the agriculture industry stands to reap the amount currently lost to imports,” a government statement read. “Malaysia’s smart agriculture use case features an AI-driven automation platform that allows predictive growth modelling. Remote global monitoring and control, thus, making farming possible anywhere.”

Under the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, the Malaysian Government also aims to increase high technology adoption in the sector to 50 per cent by 2030, up from 37 per cent in 2018.

“To equip Malaysians for IR 4.0, 5G provides quality education by connecting students in rural areas through the eKelas Enhanced Education Use Case,” the statement added. “It demonstrates learning and teaching are both transformed by augmented reality, with students quickly learning and interacting beyond the confines of the classroom.

“With 5G technology, the Malaysian smart city use case is an integrated command centre equipped with advanced security features for real-time surveillance large scale monitoring by local authorities and backed up by analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and data-driven insights.”