KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently held an online conference with Alphabet & Google President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat, where the Prime Minister mentioned that the meeting was a follow-up to their meeting in the US last year.
During the conference, Porat informed on the progress of the framework areas that Alphabet & Google can expand in Malaysia based on his previous explanation regarding the mission and focus of the Malaysian government.
“Alphabet & Google very much welcomed the leadership, commitment and support of technology and AI related to the education, health and agriculture sectors.
“I emphasised that these efforts must eventually bring comprehensive economic and social benefits without leaving out any group or community, especially in terms of technology literacy,” she said.
With that, Anwar expressed his hopes the efforts will bear fruit particularly in launching the national technology transition planning and creating job opportunities.
In the previous meeting in San Francisco, Anwar met with tech giants such as Google, Enovix Corporation, Microsoft and TikTok (through its parent company, ByteDance) which ended up in pledges of greater investments in Malaysia.
At the time, Google revealed plans to invest in Malaysia’s digital competitiveness, including infrastructure and AI innovation programmes.
The initiative is expected to see both parties getting together to help businesses advance their digital competitiveness through skilled programmes, investment in digital infrastructure, responsible AI innovation and cloud-first policies.
Additionally, Enovix Cooperation had planned to set up a high tech silicon battery producing plant in Penang, which was expected to begin operations in April of this year.
