Top > Economic Affairs > The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) > ASEM Seminar on the Digital Opportunity > Session 4: Policy Environment and the Role of Government > Communications and Multimedia Policy and Development in Malaysia (Presentation)

Presentation
Communications and Multimedia Policy and Development in Malaysia

Mr. Abas bin Abdul Rahman
Senior Principal Assistant Secretary, Communications & Multimedia Sector, Ministry of Energy, Communications & Multimedia, Malaysia

In Malaysia, the groundwork for government policy was started as early as 1991 with the introduction of Vision 2020, which set the target of Malaysia being a fully developed country by 2020. In 1995, Malaysia started to formulate its national IT Agenda with the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Project that began in 1996. In this connection a number of cyber laws were enacted in 1997, with further legislation introduced in 1998, such as the Communications and Multimedia Act.

Vision 2020 is a national vision for creating a developed nation, and the MSC Project has included the introduction of smart schools, multipurpose cards, R&D clusters, borderless marketing centers, borderless marketing centers and telehealth, among others. As of January 2001, 435 national and international companies were participating in the MSC Project.

Cyber laws that were introduced include the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Digital Signature Act 1997, the Computer Crimes Act 1997, and the Copyright Amendment Act 1997.

In the context of the Vision 2020, the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia has been reorganized in Malaysia, with ministerial functions including the formulation and implementation of national policy objectives for communications and multimedia industry, and the establishment of licensing and regulatory framework for communications and multimedia industries.

The key elements of the legislative framework are: transparency; less rather than more regulation; flexibility and generic orientation; regulatory forbearance; industry self-discipline and sector neutrality.

In terms of licensing regime principles, Malaysia has enacted a legislation whereby the primary objective of licensing principles are to be market driven and pro-competition; technology neutral; to provide access and interconnection and be transparent. The purpose of convergence legislation is to facilitate the operations of communications over the electronic medium, with regard to promoting national policy objectives in the communications and multimedia sector. In addition, the Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998 established ten national policy objectives for the IT industry, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was also enacted in 1998.

To help the government move towards a policy of self-regulation, an industry forum has been established, whose primary task is to prepare and develop voluntary industry codes. In addition, each Industry Forum must be designated by the Commission before codes can be registered, and must monitor implementation of codes to ensure a high level of compliance.

In Malaysia, in the bridging of the digital divide, infrastructure rollout programs for the underserved and content development are important challenges. The policy on infrastructure development states that industry is responsible for all info-communications infrastructure rollout, including uneconomic areas.

Potential projects in IT development include the Rural Internet Program (RIP) Development Study Program, a Communications and Multimedia Center, and improving infrastructure access.

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