Malaysia’s Planners See Yet Another Mirage
Government must focus on the rural heartland, not Industry 4.0
By: Murray Hunter
Although Malaysia’s government wants to move the country’s manufacturing base from low-end assembly and labor-intensive production towards lean manufacturing, utilizing, AI, and automation within a digital cloud enterprise environment between 2024 and 2026, it isn’t going to be easy, and the goals may be too ambitious. There are alternatives such as rural development that would pay better dividends for less money.
The government has embraced “Industry 4.0,” a concept for business and manufacturing that has become the new buzzword. More than RM45 billion (US$10.8 billion) has been allocated over the next five years to ready companies to embrace Industry 4.0 and roll out a National Digital Network (Jendels), to facilitate the vision. To critics, it appears a weary repeat of many of the white elephant industrial products embraced by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that ended in disaster, endemic corruption, and wasted billions
The government’s initiative commenced in 2019 with RM210 million allocated for companies to undertake Readiness Assessment Programs. This was done on the premise that worker productivity would be increased 30 percent, skilled workers as a percentage of the workforce from 18 to 35 percent, and an enhanced manufacturing contribution of RM254 billion to RM 392 billion. So far, the beneficiaries of this scheme have been a small select group of consultancy companies…