For illustration purpose only.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11  -- The government will introduce a 5G ecosystem development grant worth RM50 million, to seed technological developments by Malaysian companies to ride on the global 5G wave.

In addition, Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng said an allocation of RM25 million will be given to set up a contestable matching grant fund to spur more pilot projects on digital applications such as drone delivery, autonomous vehicle, blockchain technology and other products and services that leverage on the country’s investment in fibre optics and 5G infrastructure.

The government will also allocate RM20 million to Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to grow local champions in creating digital content, especially in e-Games, animation and digital arts, he added.

In order to encourage more Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt digitalisation measures in their business, Lim said the government will provide a 50 per cent matching grant of up to RM5,000 per company for the digitalisation adoption.

“This matching grant will be worth RM500 million over five years, limited to the first 100,000 SMEs applying to upgrade their system,” he said.

-- BERNAMA