Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (AFP/VNA) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia has called on ASEAN to continue to enhance cooperation in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector with the Republic of Korea (RoK) to further accelerate the regional digital economy.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin highly regarded the RoK as a world-leader in ICT who is making use of the digital economy to further drive productivity.
Cooperation between ASEAN and the RoK in the propagation of digital economy would provide the technology-savvy masses with the means to engage in digital economy and ultimately enhance the productivity and economic output of ASEAN Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), despite the current economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, he said in the 21st ASEAN-RoK Summit on November 12.
The summit, which was held as part of the 37th ASEAN Summit, was hosted by Vietnam via video conference due to the ongoing pandemic.
Muhyiddin said with a population of more than 650 million people and a combined gross domestic product of more than 2.6 trillion USD while the MSMEs account for more than 60 percent of employment in the region, Malaysia believed that ASEAN is becoming a magnet for expanding businesses and startups looking to test their novel innovations, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Southeast Asia is progressing in the digital era with its fast-growing, mobile-first, rapidly expanding tech-savvy middle class, he said, hoping that the ICT cooperation with the RoK will further spur this trend.
He also expected that the signing and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would send a strong message on the importance of strengthening regional economic integration and further spur economic growth between the two sides./.
VNA
