Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil held a press conference today following the latest cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The former Communications and Digital Ministry has been split into two – Communications Ministry and Digital Ministry. Gobind Singh returns to cabinet as the new Digital Minister while Fahmi continues to helm the Communications Minister role.
Fahmi said the cabinet had discussed the status of the current government agencies but a decision has not been made yet. He said he can’t share further details until the Ministerial Functions Order is finalised and gazetted sometime in January 2024.
Fahmi’s Ministry gets BERNAMA, RTM, JaPen, FINAS, MCMC and J-Kom
However, Fahmi said that the cabinet has decided on several agencies which will fall under the Communications Ministry. Among the government agencies that will remain under his purview include BERNAMA, IPPTAR (Institut Penyiaran dan Penerangan Tun Abdul Razak), JaPen (Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia), RTM (Jabatan Penyiaran Malaysia), National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and MyCreative ventures. He also added that Jabatan Komunikasi Komuniti (J-KOM), previously under the Prime Minister Department, will now fall under the Communications Ministry.
Gobind’s Ministry gets MDEC, MYNIC and JPDP. No decision yet on DNB
He said other agencies such as MDEC, MYNIC and Personal Data Protection Department (JPDP) will be transferred to the Digital Ministry. On the state-owned Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) which handles the national 5G network, he said is still being discussed and a decision will be made soon.
Explaining why there’s a need to have Digital as a dedicated ministry, Fahmi said previously, the digital aspect runs across several ministries for example, for reporting there’s MyDigital Corp under the Economy Ministry. For start-ups, it is under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and for scale-ups it is under MDEC and formerly Communications and Digital Ministry (KKD), while digital investments fall under the Ministry Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), particularly MIDA. Therefore, he said there’s a need to streamline as the development of the digital economy is seen as an important role under the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. He added that the decision to establish a Digital Ministry on its own comes at the right time.
Fahmi said to move of placing these agencies under a ministry helmed by a minister who is well-versed in the law and understands the emergence of various technologies will ensure that these aspects can be streamlined effectively.
