As the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) marks its 30th anniversary this year, the agency is sharpening its focus on execution and outcomes as Malaysia enters a more demanding phase of its digital and artificial intelligence journey.

MDEC CEO Anuar Fariz Fadzil says the milestone arrives at a pivotal point, as years of foundational work now need to translate into measurable gains in greater productivity, national competitiveness and value creation.

“When MDEC was established in 1996, the priority was to put Malaysia on the digital map,” Anuar says. “That meant infrastructure, connectivity and basic digital capabilities. Today, the challenge is about translating those foundations into tangible national outcomes for the years and decades ahead.”

Formed during the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) era, MDEC was among the earliest government-backed digital economy agencies in Asia. Over three decades, it has helped anchor foreign direct investment, supported the growth of Malaysian technology firms and contributed to frameworks that shaped national digital development.

What is less widely known is that MDEC’s early contributions went beyond policy advocacy into the incubation of foundational digital systems. During the MSC years, the agency was instrumental in convening partners and seeding initiatives that supported Malaysia’s push into smart identity, including smart card work such as MyKad, widely cited as the first national identity card to combine photo identification and fingerprint biometric data on a chip.

Malaysia’s innovation in chip-based identity extended into travel documents too. In March 1998, Malaysia was widely reported as the first country to issue biometric passports incorporating a microchip, an early move that placed the country ahead of global adoption and helped set the direction for later e-passport standards.

MDEC’s role in attracting and anchoring foreign direct investment has also been a defining pillar of its impact. One example is NTT DATA Malaysia, which has built a significant data centre presence in Malaysia and continues to expand, including a proposed hyperscale campus in Johor Bahru with a planned capacity of 290MW.

As stated by its managing director Henrick Choo (pictured below): “MDEC has been instrumental in shaping an environment where global investors like us can commit with confidence. From navigating the local ecosystem and regulatory landscape to aligning with Malaysia’s national digital priorities, MDEC’s support has enabled us to scale our operations here and position Malaysia as a strategic base to serve the wider region.”

Anuar says such investments reflect sustained confidence in Malaysia’s digital fundamentals, including talent availability, connectivity and regulatory clarity, and underscore MDEC’s long-standing function as a facilitator that bridges global technology players with national priorities to build long-term digital capacity.

Alongside foreign investment, MDEC has also supported the growth of local technology champions under its Malaysia Digital framework. Companies such as Carsome have scaled from local startups into regional players, while others including Vitrox, Exabytes and TNG Digital, which has achieved unicorn status, illustrate the breadth of Malaysian firms competing across advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure and fintech. Anuar says the objective was to enable companies to move from early growth to scale through market access, ecosystem connectivity and policy alignment rather than trying to pick winners.

Beyond enterprise technology, MDEC has also supported the rise of globally recognised Malaysian digital intellectual property. A notable example is Upin & Ipin, developed by Les’ Copaque Production, which has grown from a local animation project into an international franchise with reach across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and beyond. Such successes bring to life how Malaysia’s digital economy extends beyond software and infrastructure into creative content, where storytelling, technology and export potential converge to create durable, globally competitive intellectual property.

Rather than framing the anniversary as a retrospective, Anuar says MDEC is using the occasion as a checkpoint for the next decade, particularly as Malaysia accelerates towards its AI Nation 2030 ambition. The digital economy already contributes an estimated 25.5% to national GDP, with a target of reaching 30% by 2030, and he says progress now depends less on awareness-led programmes and more on disciplined and accelerated delivery across government, industry and talent pipelines.

“Digital transformation has moved from reform to results,” Anuar says. “The world will not wait. We need to evolve faster, smarter and with greater intent.”

Artificial intelligence sits at the centre of that push. Under AI Nation 2030, Anuar says MDEC’s role is increasingly focused on operationalising national strategy together with the Digital Ministry and other agencies like the National AI Office, MyDIGITAL and other stakeholders, moving strategically from planning to delivery.

Following the RMK-13 announcement, Anuar says foundational work under the National AI Action Plan 2026 to 2030 has begun, including engagements with state governments to assess readiness for Regional AI Growth Zones ahead of full-scale implementation from 2026.

“These are not abstract discussions,” he says. “They are about ensuring that the right infrastructure, skills and governance frameworks are in place before large-scale implementation begins from 2026.”

He adds that MDEC is also expanding support for AI adoption among micro, small and medium enterprises, where readiness varies widely but the stakes are rising quickly. “For SMEs, digitalisation is no longer optional,” he says. “It affects compliance, cost structures, access to markets and long-term survivability.”

Beyond AI, Anuar says the infrastructure and governance foundations now being built will also determine Malaysia’s ability to harness the next wave of technologies expected to shape the 2030s, including robotics, the Internet of Things, blockchain, quantum computing and spatial computing. “AI is the foundational layer,” he says, adding that once data and compute are embedded across the economy, the conditions for new waves of innovation improve significantly.

The export numbers provide a useful snapshot of momentum. Just recently, MDEC reported RM6.8 billion in digital exports between 2024 and the first half of 2025, with RM4.2 billion generated in 2024 by 325 companies operating across 27 countries, followed by RM2.6 billion in the first half of 2025 supported by 350 companies in 39 markets. AI-enabled companies accounted for about half of total digital exports.

As MDEC turns 30, Anuar says the milestone underscores responsibility more than celebration. “The foundations are in place,” he says. “What matters now is how we execute, collaborate and deliver long-term value for Malaysia and the rakyat.”