Author: Seri Haidah Jaapar
Editor: Nadia Nurshazira Mohd Sharani
Lim Ban Hong, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry
(Source: The Star)
KUALA LUMPUR, 4 May – SMEs in the manufacturing sector were successfully aided through targeted strategies in line with National Policy on Industry 4.0 (Industry4WRD) despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Industry4WRD was launched on 31st October 2018 to shape the future of manufacturing and its related services in Malaysia and was developed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and other key ministries namely the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Multimedia and Communications, Ministry of Human Resources, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, as well as agencies, industries and stakeholders.
Deputy Minister of MITI, Datuk Lim Ban Hong believes that Industry4WRD has created the right support ecosystem in assisting the industry especially SMEs which constitute 98.5% of all enterprises in the manufacturing sector during a webinar “The Road Ahead with Industry4WRD” held today by Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC).
“With the introduction of the MyDIGITAL blueprint that will help enhance Malaysia’s comparative advantage in the global digital economy landscape, Industry 4.0 will be the mainstay for business digitalisation,” said Datuk Lim during the opening speech.
MyDIGITAL outlines the plans to accelerate Malaysia's progress as a technologically advanced economy, through the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint. The blueprint is a critical enabler in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan, 2021-2025 (RMKe-12), working towards Wawasan Kemakmuran Bersama 2030.
“We have approved a total of 382 SMEs to undertake the government-funded Readiness Assessment (RA) and consequently 82 SMEs were offered matching grants under the intervention fund amounting to RM 31 million.
“SMEs were also eligible for financial aid through the Industry4WRD reskilling RiSE4WRD program, where a total of 67 SMEs with 442 employees benefitted from training programs associated with Industry 4.0,” he added.
He also highlighted the necessary support needed by SMEs in the manufacturing sector working towards Industry 4.0. Hence, a total of 37 industrial parts all over Malaysia are said to be upgraded with high-speed broadband connectivity that will allow industries in these areas to leverage cloud computing and the internet of things (IoT).
A support institution and platforms to enable smart collaboration and access to technology providers are also in place as MITI believes these are crucial to enable access to advisory services and affordable technology solutions, which is the Smart Manufacturing Intelligent Service Platform or SMISP, a cloud service platform that empowers solution-finding processes to industrial activities, and also to connect and match companies intending to adopt Industry 4.0 solutions.
Datuk Lim said the government will continue to support the initiatives under Industry4WRD particularly Readiness Assessment (RA) intervention fund and produce future skills and talent under the RMKe-12 for the next 5 years.
The webinar was a collaborative effort by MPC, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and SME Association of Malaysia which was also attended by Director General of MPC, Datuk Abdul Latiff Haji Abu Seman and moderated by National Vice President of SME Association of Malaysia, Yap Keng Teck.
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