Communications and Digital Ministry's S. Korea work trip ends positively with more investment commitments secured

SEOUL - Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil's inaugural official visit to South Korea ended on an optimistic note, with more investment commitments secured from the country's digital and telecommunication companies and several strategic collaboration agreements made between the two countries.

Following his visit, the minister said there will be follow-up actions towards cementing future collaborations between Malaysian agencies and their respective counterparts.

"The findings obtained from the discussion at this visit session included exploring aspects of the use of 5G by the industry between the two countries.

"It also involves things like the commitment to open the NX3 Games headquarters in Kuala Lumpur next year as well as some opportunities that we can achieve, either investment or collaboration in the future with entities in South Korea," he told Bernama.

The minister, as head of the Malaysian delegation that consisted of telecommunication companies (telcos) as well as agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD), was in the country from Sept 5 until 9 for the GSMA Mobile 360 APAC conference. He delivered his keynote address at the Policy Leaders Forum 2023.

Among the agencies involved in the visit included the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM); Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS), while telcos included CelcomDigi Bhd, Maxis Bhd, and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).

South Korean video game developer NX3 Games has expressed intentions to expand its operations in Malaysia by opening a regional headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, which is expected to be done by next year.

The company would be focusing on three key units for its Malaysian office - game publishing, research and development, and content design.

Another South Korean video game giant, Smilegate, also intends to expand its business in Malaysia and has been actively working with MDEC.

During the visit, TM and South Korea's largest wireless carrier, SK Telecom, inked an MOU to jointly develop the Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) business in Malaysia, paving the way for the business to be pioneered in the country.

In addition, CelcomDigi also signed an MOU with technology company Virnect for the development and commercialisation of industrial extended reality (XR) solutions in Malaysia as they aim to explore the development of experiential learning and education using metaverse.

The minister also visited South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics’ headquarters, Naver Corporation’s new headquarters named 1784 and entertainment company P Nation, owned by South Korean singer Psy.

He also took time to interact with Malaysian students and the Malaysian diaspora here.

Additionally, Fahmi concluded his official visit with an invitation from GSMA to deliver his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2024 which will be held in February next year.

The digital economy stands as one of Malaysia's primary economic pillars, contributing 23.2 per cent to the country's gross domestic product in 2021 and the minister expects this contribution to reach 25.5 per cent by 2025, or more than RM382 billion. - BERNAMA