VERBATIM TEXT

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

BY

YAB DATO’ SERI ANWAR BIN IBRAHIM

PRIME MINISTER

AT

MANTAP MALAYSIA BERSAMA AI,

A GOOGLE EVENT

4 NOVEMBER 2026 (WEDNESDAY) I 3:30 PM

DEWAN TUNKU CANSELOR,

UNIVERSITI MALAYA, KUALA LUMPUR

 

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, Salam Sejahtera.

 

Rakan-rakan Menteri;

 

Timbalan Menteri;

 

Miss Ruth Porat,

President and Chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google;

 

Mister David H. Gamble Jr., Chargé d’Affaires,

US Embassy in Malaysia Senior Government Officers;

 

Naib Canselor, rakan-rakan yang saya muliakan.

 

1. Hari ini kita mencipta satu lagi sejarah dalam erti kata langkah dan prakarsa memajukan apa yang kita ungkapkan dulu sebagai transformasi digital dan kita laksanakan secara tekun dan hampir empat tahun memberi ruang kepada anak-anak kita terdedah dengan ilmu dan teknologi baru dan menambah keyakinan syarikat-syarikat besar, antarabangsa  yang khususnya Google seperti yang kita saksikan.

 

 

2. So, thank you very much Ruth Porat, my dear friend. We have showed so much confidence and support and I, on behalf of Malaysia, my colleagues must express my profound gratitude to you personally and of course to Google, the entire team for your tremendous effort in supporting this venture. Terima kasih

 

3. Now when you look, you took the stage, Ruth, just moments ago to announce Google’s additional investment into Malaysia, you confirmed what we in Malaysia have long known: our nation possesses the stability, the talent, and the ambition to be a premier digital powerhouse in Southeast Asia.

 

4. Let me state this with absolute clarity: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is indispensable to Malaysia’s economic dynamism. Capital inflows of this magnitude provide the essential fuel for macroeconomic expansion. They build cutting-edge physical assets, signal sovereign confidence to global markets, and anchor our position at the forefront of the global artificial intelligence revolution. We celebrate this commitment as a monumental milestone.

 

5. At the same time, under the Ekonomi MADANI framework and our New Industrial Master Plan 2030, our goal is to ensure that capital aligns with our deeper national journey. FDI is vital, and its full power is realized when it elevates three fundamental pillars:

 

1. First, building resilient, globally competitive Malaysian industries;

 

1. Second, human capital development that lifts up the whole of society; and

 

• Third, ethical stewardship of our energy and natural resources.

 

6. This is where Google’s blueprint sets a compelling standard for all investors.

 

7. The first pillar: a successful investment builds lasting roots within an economy. During its construction phase alone, this initiative will contribute to our GDP and support more local jobs. Once operational, it will sustain specialist positions paying wages above the national median.

 

8. To me, this is precisely where policy meets doing what is right and just. In Ekonomi MADANI, we do not measure success by headlines alone, but by whether our brightest young talents can earn what they truly deserve and walk with their heads held high on the global stage.

 

9. What is especially gratifying is how Google has chosen to work with our domestic private sector. Universities, research centers, industries. In realising its investment plan into Malaysia, Google has partnered with more than 80 Malaysian entities across civil engineering, power systems, high-specification network infrastructure, and logistics – not out of obligation, but because Malaysian companies are competent, disciplined, and competitive on world-class terms.

 

10. This partnership proves that when foreign capital meets homegrown capability, our local firms do not just participate, they sharpen their edge and prepare to compete globally.

 

11. The second pillar is our people. In our MADANI philosophy, we constantly speak of raising the ceiling of innovation and raising the floor of social equity. Technology is not an end. It is an instrument to unlock our human potential.

 

12. We do not want an AI divide where only an elite few in boardrooms or tech labs thrive while the rest of the nation looks on as spectators. That is why Google’s pledge to upskill eight hundred thousand Malaysians resonates so deeply with our agenda.

 

13. Look at how this touches real lives. Google’s plans will reach into our polytechnics through new Data Center Institutes, ensuring vocational and TVET youth gain practical, simulator-trained skills that lead directly to high-tech employment.

 

14. It reaches our classrooms, the rural heartland, the urban poor. And we have seen even the aboriginal villages of Orang Asli equipping teachers so that children learn to command artificial intelligence with critical minds rather than passive dependence. And it reaches our local council officers and stallholders, showing a small trader how digital tools can expand a family business beyond their neighbourhoods.

 

15. When we invest in our youth and our workers, technology ceases to be an imported novelty — it becomes an indigenous capability.

 

16. The third pillar is responsibility to our environment. In the Malay tradition and at the core of MADANI lies the principle of ‘Ihsan’ — care, balance, and deep responsibility.

 

17. Modern digital infrastructure demands massive resources, and the test of a responsible investor is whether it leaves the host nation stronger and more resilient than it found it. Google’s approach here, my dear Ruth, thank you, is exemplary.

 

18. On energy, Google is not competing with our households for electricity. By partnering with TNB to add more than 1 gigawatt of new clean energy capacity to our National Grid—and paying fully for its own power without public subsidies—it actively accelerates Malaysia’s national energy transition.

 

19. On water, or as America say water, I was this one year at Oxford before I went to D.C. to teach Georgetown. So, during his break, left for some Georgetown stalls and said water please. And this guy in the restaurant said, “what?” I said, “water please.” “What do you want?” Then I showed the bottle. “You mean water?” So, see, what do I do? I was from Oxford and they had to teach me how to pronounce English rightly. So, on water (joking)

 

20. Google has committed to an extraordinary benchmark: giving back more freshwater to our watersheds than its operations consume. For that, Google plans to build an off-river storage reservoir and a state-of-the-art treatment plant.
21. This investment in water stewardship is designed to deliver 65 million liters of potable water daily, mitigate flood risks during the monsoon, secure reserves during dry seasons, and expand access to clean drinking water for the community. And upon completion, ownership will be handed over directly to the State Government as a permanent public asset for the rakyat.

 

22. So, to Ruth Porat and the entire Alphabet and Google team: terima kasih for your enduring trust and partnership with Malaysia. Your investment honors our ambition, respects our resources, and believes in our people.

 

23. Malaysia is open, business-friendly, and determined to continue to work hard in order to lead the digital era. With investments of this caliber, we prove that economic velocity, technological sophistication, and social equity can advance together as one cohesive national journey.

 

Terima kasih.