VERBATIM TEXT

OFFICIATING SPEECH BY

YAB DATO’ SERI ANWAR BIN IBRAHIM PRIME MINISTER 

AT THE

INAUGURAL CEREMONY FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE OF ANT INTERNATIONAL

“The hub of a digital renaissance”

1st JULY 2026 (WEDNESDAY)

10:00 AM TUN RAZAK EXCHANGE, KUALA LUMPUR

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,

Salam Sejahtera.

1. Kita bersyukur ke hadrat Allah SWT, kerana dapat menyempurnakan satu acara yang sangat penting bagi negara kita, di mana Ant International telah memilih Malaysia sebagai salah satu malah permulaan satu rencana untuk menumpukan pembinaan prakarsa digital yang agak terkemuka dan kita tentunya harus menggunakan dan memanfaatkan kemudahan ini dengan sebaiknya.
2. Kita dengar tadi saudara yang menyampaikan pandangan bagi pihak kumpulan Ant International, dan Saudara Cyril Han ini tentunya tokoh besar dan utama dalam gerakan ini.
3. Saya juga ucap terima kasih kepada Saudara Zambry Abdul Kadir, Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi kerana kerjasama yang dikelolakan, dirangka untuk memperkuatkan dan meningkatkan keupayaan talent yang disebut tadi.
4. Saya harap kita di negara ini mengambil kesempatan ini dengan sebaik mungkin. Hari Isnin, kita ada mesyuarat Majlis Digital Negara. Semalam, hari Selasa mesyuarat Majlis Pendidikan Negara. Kedua-dua mesyuarat ini menumpukan soal pendidikan dan mutu pendidikan dan penerokaan disiplin baru supaya anak-anak muda diberi latihan sebaiknya. Dan hari ini, ANT International kita melihat bagaimana keperluan kita yang mendesak perubahan yang harus pantas untuk menangkap, memanfaatkan kemudahan ini.
5. Thank you again Cyril Han and Ant International, for your support and confidence. We are of course very delighted to be hosting this and I’ve asked you repeatedly whether the facilities accorded, the collaboration and cooperation by all factors here is to your satisfaction. You’ve been kind to say yes, but I always say room for improvement we try our best. Thank you again. Xie Xie Gewei.
6. So, we are here standing on the cusp of a new digital financial renaissance. The change is unprecedented, the pace is so fast and the challenge is huge but there are ways of building trust. We have to assess risk and we have to expand access to financial services. And that’s the bottom line.
7. What is new technology if we cannot ensure that it benefits the large segment of our population? So, there are key questions that we have to apply with regard to accountability, transparency and responsibility.
8. I am delighted that Mr. Cyril Han in his address do make strong clear references some of these issues. Institutions such as banks are instrumental to mobilize capital and enable economic growth. Yet it is also a system that has not always served everyone equally, often leaving behind those with the least resources and opportunities.
9. This is the legacy that we inherited by the Global South, China, India. A system that is highly dependent on the dollar and typically benefits large multinational companies over small business owners. Now of course I’m delighted with our strong collaboration, particularly with the Chinese. In my meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, I just told him just now that I got another invitation by Premier Li Qiang to co-inaugurate one very important tech conference in Shanghai. But this collaboration is not just between governments or diplomatic encounters, but it involves some very focused policies that ensure the benefit both countries and the welfare of our common person.
10. For example, not necessarily de-dollarisation, dollar still is key in terms of financial transactions, but we have used the local denominated currencies, Yuan and the Ringgit in many of our deals. From low 5% of the total trade to now 18% of the total trade between China and Malaysia.
11. Why? Because the confidence and the equal commitment to ensure that these shift in emphasis and policies would benefit both economists and the people.
12. So, while the global economy has grown under this system, its interconnected nature also means that shocks on one part of the world can quickly spread across borders and affect millions elsewhere. You understand fully with the young professionals here. I see them bright, very enthusiastic. And you are fortunate because Cyril Han gives strong tribute and confidence to the young.
13. I would say yes, but we hope you should use and utilize this opportunity to try and excel in various disciplines because you are the future. I am of course very excited with the confidence given because we and particularly the young must learn. We inherit the system. We know what the 2008 financial crisis is all about.
14. Now it began with mortgage lending in U.S. banks but reached international proportions to stagger global economic growth. We have nothing to do with that, but we have to bear the burden.
15. Similarly, now with the Gulf War, hopefully can be resolved but you don’t know. Today resolves, tomorrow something else and day after resolves, then again. Oh, God, help us. But much needed innovations that strengthen resilience, reduce exposure to international shocks and fairly provide microcredits as we weather through financial storms and global economic crisis.
16. So, as we welcome an international decision to establish Global Development Center in Kuala Lumpur, so I would say xie xie, terima kasih, it means a lot to us. But let us be clear about the purpose that must guide this endeavour.
17. Technology, finance and innovation are critical, but not ends in themselves. As alluded to earlier Cyril, they must add true value to the economy by generating quality jobs, strengthening local capabilities, expanding opportunities for businesses and widening affordable access to services for those who have traditionally been left behind.
18. So, the collaboration with universities, with research centers is paramount. Yesterday we deliberated on this subject at length. Universities must be flexible enough, fast enough to accommodate and adjust. Now, I don’t represent a view that universities should be utilitarian, which means they are just focused on industry, technology, industry, technology, period. No, that is an important element in education policy.
19. But in an MADANI framework or in an emerging economy like ours, where we have faith, we have values, we have multiracial issues, we have different cultures and customs, issue of values, trust, respect, is too critical because that would mean the survival of this nation.
20. So, whilst specialization is critical, we are not neglecting the other aspect of values. But Ant International, with your expertise, collaborating with universities and research centers, would of course be able to, because they have excelled in areas which is quite alien to us, not to most of you, “it is Greek to me”, you hear them speaking not like today, today they are making it very simple to us. They use their own technical terms. I can’t check the dictionary because sometimes the dictionary is not coping fast enough with the new terms. And that is the reality that we have to face now.
21. So, what is important for me to stress is these, technological advancements must translate into real and tangible outcomes for our people, through greater productivity, enhanced economic resilience and improve quality of life. Innovation must remain anchored in a simple principle that the benefits of growth are broadly shared and that no community is left behind.
22. It’s a very important conversation here because there are some of us who say that, you know, only my community or my race or my district. We have to be able, particularly the young, must have this courage and conviction to face this reality. My community means my people. My race means my country, Malaysia. That should be the new emphasis.
23. Viewed through this lens, therefore, no industry intersects more than or with the general population than those involved in finance. Financial services could inject the credit needed for a family confronting medical bills or skilled traders to reach customers across the world as readily as those across the street.
24. The digital revolution has opened possibilities where advancements in telecommunications and computing facilities or facilitate complex cross-border payments, which benefit the individual or in a larger geopolitical context, mitigate volatility through exchange currencies.
25. And again, the changes, the new facilities through innovation are so fast that only those who are competent will be able to accept and adjust to the benefit of the family, the people and the nation. So, the era of artificial intelligence can be different.
26. It will shape not only how business run, but how commerce itself is conducted, how credit is assessed, how risk is managed and how markets connect across borders. Applied responsibly, large language models can remove barriers, facilitate communication and create new opportunities for trade and innovation.
27. But, I must remind you that these technologies also concentrate immense power in the hands of those who control data, platform and digital infrastructure. So, AI for the Rakyat for the nation in this country attempts to ensure that the benefit transcends groups and communities. So, we must ensure that human judgment remains at the center of decision making even as machines become more capable and sophisticated.
28. So, now we have a global development center. I’m of course naturally excited. We discussed this even yesterday. We say nice things about you, don’t worry. But, this is a new chapter in Malaysia. The talents and those of you operating this space must hold on to trust and security as the ethos we live by. Those you serve must be able to trust that their money is secure, their information is protected and the judgments made about them fair.
29. The government, Malaysian government is completing the AI Governance Bill and we will need your input and I get the relevant officers, the ministry to discuss because you have this expertise and also familiarity in understanding some other regulations and laws in many countries. We want to make sure that we are up in the state of art, because the Bill will complement existing frameworks including the Cybersecurity Act and our data protection regulation. Digital trust is the foundation of building a digital nation and our plan and the final phases of the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint emphasize this priority.
30. So, thank you again to Ant International, you have chosen as the home or Malaysia as the home for its Global Development center, the first fintech company of its kind to do so here. Thank you very much.
31. Now, there have been others, many others, but there are regional bases. Here ANT International is making it as a global center. Wah! Luar biasa. Terima Kasih.
32. So, I’m sure this is not just an accident because they like me or Zamry, but because there’s stability in this country, there’s clarity of policies, there’s determination by the leaders, the bureaucrats, the private sector, the young professionals, that show that we must make it happen and insya-Allah, God willing, we will succeed.

Terima Kasih!