The 37th Conference of the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) and Japan-Malaysia Economic Association (JAMECA) was held on 1 July 2019 at EQ, Equatorial Plaza, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. More than 250 participants representing MAJECA and JAMECA members, industry leaders and entrepreneurs attended the Conference.

YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, graced the Conference with his attendance in the afternoon session, giving a Keynote Address and engaged the audience in a Q & A dialogue.

Since 1977, over four decades, MAJECA and its Japanese counterpart, Japan-Malaysia Economic Association (JAMECA), have played a dynamic role to help Malaysia achieve its economic industrialisation goals. Today, more than 1,500 Japanese companies in many industrial sectors have located their businesses in Malaysia. With the fast-changing business landscape impacted by changes resulting from Industry 4.0. MAJECA takes cognizance that businesses need to adopt market-driven digital and technological innovations to be able to compete effectively in the global marketplace.

In line with these current trends, the theme of the conference focused on “Expanding Trade & Investments between Malaysia and Japan in the Innovative Technologies Sectors”.

MAJECA and JAMECA were led by their respective Presidents, namely, Tan Sri Azman Hashim and Mr Mikio Sasaki. H.E. Dr Makio Miyagawa, Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, read the Congratulatory Message from H.E. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim

Mr Mikio Sasaki

H.E. Dr Makio Miyagawa

 

Plenary Session 1
The title of this session was “Malaysia-Japan Collaboration on Smart Manufacturing (Industry 4.0) in conjunction with the Second Seminar on “Malaysia-Japan Collaboration Platform on Smart Manufacturing” organized by MITI, MIDA, SIRIM, Embassy of Japan, JETRO & JACTIM”. The topics and presenters for Session 1 were as follows:

1. Industry4WRD and Its Adoption in MNCs and SMEs
   Dato’ Syed Mohamed Koyakutty, Senior Director, Sectoral Policy, Ministry of International Trade & Industry Malaysia (MITI)

   Dato’ Syed Mohamed Koyakutty, MITI

   Prof. Ir. Dr. Ahmad Fadzil Mohamad Hani SIRIM

2. Malaysia-Japan Collaboration on Smart Manufacturing
   Prof. Ir. Dr. Ahmad Fadzil Mohamad Hani, President & Group Chief Executive, SIRIM Berhad
3. Smart Manufacturing Adoption in Industries
   Mr Jacob Lee Chor Kok, Council Member and Chairman, FMM Industry 4.0 Committee, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM)

   Mr Jacob Lee Chor Kok, FMM I4.0 Committee

   Mr. Soichiro Kuninobu, Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd

4. Realizing Industry4WRD with e-F＠ctory
   Mr. Soichiro Kuninobu, General Manager, ASEAN Strategic Marketing Group Factory Automation & Industrial Division, Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd
5. Smart Factory over IoT /RPA Application
   Mr. Naoki Wakabayashi, Managing Director, KDDI Malaysia SDN BHD
   

   Plenary Session 1 presenters with the Chairman, Tan Sri Azman Hashim & Co-Chairman. Mr Kazuto Sasaki.

    

Plenary Session 2 : Investment Collaboration in Innovative Technologies
Topics and presenters:

1. Malaysia’s Current Status of Industry 4.0 and Business Opportunities
   Mr Ahmad Khairuddin Abdul Rahim, Sr. Executive Director, Strategic Planning & Development, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)
2. Current Japanese Enterprises Investment Trend in Malaysia
   Mr Masakuni Nakayama, JACTIM / Marubeni Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Branch

   Mr Ahmad Khairuddin Abdul Rahim, MIDA

   Mr Masakuni Nakayama, JACTIM

3. Selangor – Skills Development, What can Selangor offer, Business Opportunities – Core Clusters
   Dato’ Hasan Azhari Bin Hj. Idris, CEO, Invest Selangor
4. Malaysia’s Nanotechnology Ecosystem Supporting Smart Cities, Manufacturing and Green Agenda
   Dr. Rezal Khairi Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, NanoMalaysia Berhad

   Dato’ Hasan Azhari Bin Hj. Idris, Invest Selangor

   Dr. Rezal Khairi Ahmad, NanoMalaysia Berhad

    

   

   Session 2 Group picture with Chairman, Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal and Co-Chairman, Mr Kazuto Sasaki

    

Plenary Session 3 : The Digital Economy
Topics and presenters:

1. Digital Economy : Malaysia’s New Era of Business Growth
   Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Sdn Bhd

   Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, MDEC

   Mr Ganesh Bangah, PIKOM

2. The Development of E-Commerce in Malaysia
   Mr Ganesh Bangah, Chairman, The National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM)
3. Cashless Solutions
   Mr. Jun TAKAGI, Chief Executive Officer (Overseas) Nippon Platform Co. Ltd.

   Mr. Jun TAKAGI, Nippon Platform Co Ltd

   Mr Cheah Kok Hoong

4. Transforming Businesses through Digitalisation
   Mr Cheah Kok Hoong, Group Chief Executive Officer / Director – Hitachi Sunway Information Systems Sdn Bhd

 

YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, graced this conference with a Keynote Address for the participants.  The Prime Minister also had a Q & A dialogue with delegates at the conference.

 

In his keynote speech at the 37th MAJECA-JAMECA Joint Conference, the Prime Minister presented the broad economic climate in Malaysia and the Government’s efforts to develop and restructure the industrial eco-system to meet the needs of the future with the adoption and application of digital and innovative technologies.  The Prime Minister encouraged MAJECA and JAMECA to be instrumental to open new frontiers for investments and economic collaborations and partnership between Malaysia and Japan.

 

 

KDDI Malaysia Sdn Bhd

KDDI Malaysia Sdn Bhd

 

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MAJECA

Mr Kuniharu Nakamura, Vice-President of JAMECA

Exchange of souvenirs

 

Visit Level Up Inc and Orbit on 2 July 2019 from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm

Venue:
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) @ Level up Inc & Orbit, Vertical Corporate Tower B, Avenue 10, The Vertical, No. 8, Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar South, Kg. Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

MAJECA thanks MDEC for arranging the Post-Conference visit to Level Up Inc and Orbit on 2 July 2019.  45 Conference delegates participated in the visit which included MAJECA President, YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim as well as YBhg  Dato’ Seri Ibrahim Haji Ahmad (MAJECA EXCO Member) and YBhg Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay from Genting Group.

The programme was as follows:

• Welcoming Remarks by Hew Wee Choong, Vice President, Investment & Industry Development, MDEC
• Level Up Presentation: Title: Interactive Media. Presented by  Hasnul Hadi Samsudin, Vice-President, MDEC Creative Content & Technologies
• Sharing Session by Level Up members
• Orbit Presentation by Title: Orbit – Fintech Hub by Mr Tang, MDEC
• i2M presentation on “World’s Best Nearshore – GBS ISKANDAR” by Zulfiqar Zainuddin, Managing Director i2M
• Sharing Session by Orbit members
• Presentation by United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

Level Up Inc @ Game Hub
Level 7, Vertical Corporate Tower B, Avenue 10,
The Vertical, No. 8, Jalan Kerinchi,
Bangsar South, Kg. Kerinchi,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.

 

• An incubator for top small and medium game startups to collaborate, support and accelerate their businesses as part of the government support to make Malaysia the regional game hub.
• Comprising 5,000 sqft space within one of KL’s largest 36,000 sqft co-working space ‘Komune’ at Vertical Corporate Tower in Bangsar South which started operations in September 2017.
• Community Activities
  • Monthly game development hangout
  • Publisher pitching
  • Investment pitching
  • Project business matching
  • Workshop & training

ORBIT
Level 3, Vertical Corporate Tower B, Avenue 10,
The Vertical, No. 8, Jalan Kerinchi,
Bangsar South, Kg. Kerinchi,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.

• 20k sqft co working space and a Fintech Hub aims to be a lightning rod to attract and catalyse the fintech ecosystem in Malaysia; in collaboration with Bank Negara and Securities Commissions.

 

List of tenants in ORBIT;
VISA, Merchantrade, Chaintope, MPAY, UNCDF

UNCDF Financial Innovation Hub launch
Accelerate innovation in digital financial services with new or improved solutions that empower the daily lives of low and moderate income people. The Hub runs on three pillars; incubating and accelerating innovation, creating a culture of innovation, and facilitating learning and sharing.

The Financial Innovation Lab – a platform created under the hub is currently running 2 challenges – B40 Persona Challenge & the Pacific-ASEAN Financial Innovation Challenge

Accelerators partnered and presence in ORBIT
SuperCharger and Alpha Start-ups to get the right pool of start-ups for ideation and established redomicile and flourish in Malaysia.

 

Three Level Up presenters shared their experiences

 

Co-working space at Level Up Inc.

 

Visit to Orbit

 

Orbit – Fintech Hub presentation by Mr Tang, MDEC

World’s Best Nearshore – GBS ISKANDAR by Zulfiqar Zainuddin, Managing Director i2M

Junya Yoshizaki presented Chaintope’s Blockchain protocol development

Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd presentation – development of cross border, multi-currency payment solutions

 

1337 Ventures -technology accelerator and early stage venture capital focused on doing pre-seed and seed stage investments by Bikesh Lakhmichand, Founding Partner

Jaspreet Singh presenting the UN Capital Development Fund – unlocking public and private finance for the poor

 

Tour of Obit

 

Picture Gallery