KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has secured the second position among ASEAN countries in the inaugural GSMA Digital Nations Index 2025, establishing it as a regional leader in digital readiness behind Singapore.
The report titled Achieving the ASEAN Connectivity Strategic Plan revealed that Malaysia achieved an aggregate score exceeding 60 out of 100, placing it in the top tier of digitally advanced nations alongside the Philippines and Thailand.
This index evaluates each ASEAN member state’s digital preparedness across five key components which are infrastructure, innovation, data governance, security and people.
Malaysia demonstrated its strongest performance in the People component by scoring within the highest range of 76 to 100, reflecting the country’s sustained efforts to broaden digital service access and enhance workforce competencies.
The report however identified areas requiring improvement as Malaysia scored only moderately in Infrastructure, Innovation and Security, with all three falling within the 25 to 49 range.
Several key Malaysian strategic initiatives to accelerate digital transformation received commendation within the GSMA report.
Among these was the launch of the AI Nation Framework in August 2025, a national strategy designed to ensure artificial intelligence benefits every citizen.
In the innovation space, the report highlighted the launch of Ryt Bank as Malaysia’s first fully AI-powered banking service.
This service utilises a homegrown large-language model named ILMU to process natural conversation in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Manglish for more intuitive and accessible banking.
On the infrastructure front, the report noted significant investment in Malaysia’s digital economy citing a Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation disclosure from July 2025.
Total investments more than doubled to RM29.47 billion (US$7 billion) in the year’s second quarter, largely driven by data centre and cloud computing segments.
Malaysia’s progress in strengthening its legal framework through the Cyber Security Act 2024 and new data transfer guidelines also gained recognition.
The GSMA report concluded that realising ASEAN’s development plans requires concerted efforts to improve digital readiness across member nations. – Bernama