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KUALA LUMPUR: The Economy Ministry has carved out a six month timeline to focus on ways to rejuvenate the country's digital ecosystem with more announcements from the government in August.

"We will go stage by stage, as we need to build momentum,  since everything that we do must have an impact on the ecosystem. We want to know what is the best way to address any issues concerning the ecosystem," Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said.

He added that the first step towards reaching the goal is to have an inter-ministerial discussion with ministries that are responsible for the digital ecosystem.

Rafizi will be sitting down on June 21 with the respective ministers from Communications and Digital Ministry and Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and Ministry (MOSTI), to discuss matters with regards to the digital ecosystem.

"Most of the things that we need to do, either in terms of resources, administration and even legislation revolve around the three ministries," he told media at Mavcap's Ilham Talk.

Rafizi also said he will meet with 20 and more agencies responsible for facilitating the digital and technology ecosystem on June 23.

He said the roundtable discussion with the agencies is to ensure that all parties are on the same page and make decisions collectively on the best way to further develop the digital ecosystem.

Rafizi said

On the venture capital scene, Rafizi said more emphasis will be given to cultivate more startups within the seed stage and angel funding.

" We need to focus more on the risk capital, as a lot of the investment within the digital startups and technology in this country over the last 10 years tend to gravitate towards startups series A, B and C. "Although I don't think we would be able to announce it in August, because it is too close to the budget in October," he said.

Apart from that, he said the ministry is looking into bringing in international talent into the country, to further strengthen the startup ecosystem.

"Our visa process and our quota for international talent have been quite difficult for digital talent to relocate here as we forget that without the talent, there wouldn't be funding. The more international talent we have, the more funding we will get," he said.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/06/920014/bid-reboot-digital-ecosystem