African Nations Regard Malaysia As Role Model For Telecommunications Sector Development
GENEVA (Switzerland), June 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's telecommunications sector development is being viewed as a positive model example by African nations.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that in bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Algeria, Sid Ali Zerrouki and Senegal, Alioune Sall, both countries expressed interest in learning from Malaysia, especially regarding telecommunication infrastructure development and digital transformation implementation.
"They want to observe and benchmark based on how Malaysia implements telecommunication infrastructure planning," he told the media after holding bilateral meetings with his Algerian and Senegalese counterparts here Tuesday.
The meetings were held in conjunction with Malaysia's participation in the World Summit on the Information Society+20 (WSIS+20) High-Level Event, held here from July 7 to 11.
Fahmi said both countries admired Malaysia's achievements, which include reaching 98 percent 4G coverage and 82 percent 5G coverage in populated areas (CoPA), with 5G adoption reaching 80 percent of internet users.
"For both countries, the next step is to establish a Memorandum of Understanding between ministries and also between bodies responsible for regulating the telecommunications and internet sectors," he said.
During the meeting with Sid Ali, Fahmi said his Algerian counterpart also expressed a desire to cooperate with ASEAN, especially in the aspect of online safety.
"I informed him that we signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration in Bandar Seri Begawan last May," he said.
In this regard, he added that Sid Ali expressed interest in delving deeper into the Kuala Lumpur Declaration and the efforts undertaken by countries in the Southeast Asian region to ensure a safer internet for citizens.
"So, God willing, we will follow this up with discussions, and perhaps after the Kuala Lumpur Declaration is adopted, we will share the framework and several initiatives, such as the ASEAN Toolkit, not only with Algeria but also with other interested countries from the African continent," he said.
Fahmi also mentioned that Sid Ali conveyed his intention to invite Malaysia as an observer country to the Smart Africa platform, which aims to leverage affordable access to broadband.
"I believe it (Smart Africa) is an interesting and very potential platform, and certainly Malaysia, as a non-aligned country in adopting technology from either the West or the East, has much to share.
"We can share many stories, many experiences in terms of successes and challenges in implementing, especially the 5G network," he said.
Besides Algeria and Senegal, Fahmi is also scheduled to meet with his Ghanaian counterpart, Samuel Nartey George, in the morning.
In the afternoon, he is slated to hold bilateral meetings with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Haitham Abdulrahman AlOhali, and the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
--BERNAMA
