TGS Interview：Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)

Q1. What are the current industry events or promotion plans that MDEC is focused on?

For the digital content industry, MDEC is focused on promoting our flagship events LEVEL UP KL and Malaysia Digital Content Festival. While the LUKL is focused on B2B, MYDCF is targeted towards the public. Both events aim to further grew the game ecosystem in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Q2. What are the challenges that the MDEC faced during the Covid-19 pandemic? How did MDEC’s businesses change due to the pandemic?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) faced several challenges, including:

1. Economic downturn: The pandemic led to a severe economic downturn, which affected MDEC's ability to attract and retain business investment.
2. Remote working: MDEC had to adapt to the remote working environment, which presented challenges in maintaining effective communication and collaboration among team members.
3. Business disruptions: Many of the businesses that MDEC works with were also affected by the pandemic and experienced disruptions to their operations, which impacted MDEC's ability to provide support and services to them.
4. Shift of focus: MDEC had to shift its focus to help businesses to survive the pandemic, by providing support for digitalization and online business.
5. Need for agility: MDEC had to develop new ways to support the technology sector, adapt to the changing landscape and remain agile in response to the pandemic.

Due to the pandemic, MDEC's businesses have changed in the following ways:

1. Emphasis on digitalization: MDEC has placed a greater emphasis on helping businesses to digitalize and move online, in order to survive the pandemic and maintain competitiveness.
2. Online services: MDEC has developed and increased their online services and support to assist the technology sectors to cope with the challenges of the pandemic.
3. Partnership with other agencies: MDEC has been actively building partnerships with other government agencies and private sectors to provide more comprehensive and coordinated support to businesses during the pandemic.
4. Focus on emerging technologies: MDEC has been focusing on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and internet of things to drive innovation and competitiveness in the technology sector.
5. Accelerated digital skills development: MDEC has been accelerated the development of digital skills to support businesses and individuals to adapt to the digitalized environment.

Q3. What drives MDEC to establish a long-term collaboration with Taipei Game Show? What do you expect/look for from the collaboration?

MDEC values relationship with other countries as we seek to explore further opportunities in game development for both countries as well as form strong partnership to expand the growth of game industry in both countries.

Q4. What are the unique advantages or strengths that Malaysian local game developers/companies have?

Malaysian game development companies have several unique advantages and strengths that have helped them to establish themselves in the global game development market:

1. High-quality talent: Malaysia has a growing pool of talented game developers, many of whom are trained in internationally recognized programs.
2. Low-cost development: The cost of living and doing business in Malaysia is relatively low, which allows game development companies to keep overhead expenses down and offer more competitive prices to clients.
3. Government support: The government of Malaysia has made a concerted effort to develop the country's creative industries, including the game development industry, and has provided support to game development companies through initiatives such as grants, tax incentives, and incubation programs.
4. Cultural diversity: Malaysia's multicultural society allows game development companies to create games that appeal to a diverse global audience, and also experience in localization.
5. Proximity to other Southeast Asian markets: As a country located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is well-positioned to tap into the fast-growing markets of the region, which are home to a large number of potential customers and partners for game development companies.
6. Mobile gaming focus: With the high penetration rate of mobile devices in Southeast Asia, many Malaysian game developers focused their development on mobile games which can be accessible to a wide range of audience.
7. Strong focus on quality: The game development industry in Malaysia has a strong emphasis on creating high-quality and polished games, which has helped to establish the country's reputation as a source of high-quality game development services.

Q5. What are the MDEC’s main focuses on oversea business development?

MDEC has been successful in attracting major studios into the country such as Bandai Namco, Larian Studios, Virtuos and many more to add on to Malaysia’s robust game development ecosystem.

Q6. What are MDEC’s growth/promotion plans for the next one to two years?

The government launched the Malaysia Digital initiative, which succeeded Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia to drive digital transformation in focus areas that present high-growth potential, opportunities, importance to boost the national digital economy.

The Malaysian Government, through MDEC, will award Malaysia Digital Status to eligible companies to participate and undertake any of Malaysia Digital’s activities. Malaysia Digital Status companies will be entitled to a set of incentives, rights and privileges from the government, subject to necessary approvals, compliance to applicable conditions, laws and regulations.

Within just two months since its launch, MD has successfully brought in RM42 billion worth of foreign direct digital investments and RM4.76 billion from expanding domestic direct digital investment (DDI), generating 6,000 high-value jobs.