Malaysia inks MoU for national blockchain infrastructure

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Malaysia is seeking to join a select group of countries, including China, in developing a national blockchain infrastructure. The Southeast Asian country has partnered with two private companies to build the infrastructure, which will be open to all government levels and the commercial sector.

MY E.G. Services Berhad (MYEG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MIMOS Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd to jointly develop the national Layer 1 public blockchain infrastructure. The two will build on Zetrix, a blockchain network developed by MYEG and the MIMOS blockchain.

Known as the Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure (MBI), the new network will bring “next generation Web 3 applications to both government and commercial sectors in the country that will propel Malaysia as a leading technology innovator nation, and deliver the objectives as set out in Malaysia’s National Blockchain Roadmap,” MYEG stated.

This roadmap was launched in August by Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Alongside four other roadmaps targeting sectors like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, it’s designed to develop local companies’ tech capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign technology.

“We are honored to be able to contribute to Malaysia’s national blockchain roadmap and firmly believe that the blockchain enablement of trade will unlock greater opportunities and use cases to establish this as a true technological revolution, departing away from speculative tokenomics,” said MYEG’s Group Managing Director Wong Thean Soon on the latest partnership.

“The next generation of the economy is digital, and the distributed ledger will be the ubiquitous single source of truth for all commerce,” added Wong.

Malaysia has continued to grow as a digital asset and blockchain hub. However, it still ranks behind its Southeast Asian neighbors, which have seen rapid adoption, and the government will be hoping the new infrastructure bridges the gap.

Malaysia is listed behind top-ranked Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia in digital asset adoption according to this year’s Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index.

However, despite lagging behind its peers, Malaysia is in a prime position to become the region’s blockchain hub, Henry Chong believes.

In an interview, Chong, the chief executive officer of Malaysian digital securities exchange Fusang pointed out that “the most important takeaway is that Malaysia as a country is starting to look at how it can use foundational blockchain infrastructure as a country…it has said ‘blockchain technology is the future and we need to start exploring today’.”

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Re-Inventing Business with Blockchain