Business

[VIDEO] M’sia targets 80,000 digital nomads by 2025, says MDEC chief exec

Mahadhir Aziz says country can offer them world’s cheapest rates

Updated 1 year ago · Published on 10 Nov 2022 9:00AM

[VIDEO] M’sia targets 80,000 digital nomads by 2025, says MDEC chief exec
Caretaker communications minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa (front row, centre) poses for a photo with ecosystem partners for the DE Rantau programme in Langkawi. – NAZIRUL ROSELAN pic, November 10, 2022

by Anne Edwards

LANGKAWI – Malaysia targets attracting some 80,000 digital nomads by the year 2025, said Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd’s (MDEC) chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz.

To date, MDEC has received over 2,000 applications from digital nomads for the DE Rantau nomad pass, which is exclusively for those who can work remotely from anywhere.

DE Rantau was first launched on September 13 in Penang as one of the Malaysia Digital Catalytic Programmes to make the country the preferred digital nomad hub to promote digital professional mobility and tourism.

The pass allows them to stay and work in Malaysia for up to twelve months, plus another year when renewed.

Alongside this exclusive pass, digital nomads are also offered services during their stay in the country.

Similarly for tourism, there are many aspects of what a tourist, in this case a nomad, would need – laundry services; e-hailing and p-hailing services; food delivery; and tourism services.

“So I think we are very much showing the kind of players and stakeholders that we have within Malaysia and how they can collaborate… in terms of providing those services to visitors to Malaysia (who can) enjoy not only the country but also the digital side of things and the ecosystem,” Mahadhir told The Vibes after attending the launching of the DE Rantau programme for Langkawi at Dash Resort on the island.

Is DE Rantau similar to MM2H?

However, the question remains as to whether DE Rantau is similar to the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.

The government introduced MM2H in 2002, which allows foreigners who fulfil certain criteria to stay in the country for as long as possible on a multiple-entry social visit pass.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz says among the services required by digital nomads are laundry services; e-hailing and p-hailing services; food delivery; and tourism services. – MOHD HAZLI HASSAN/The Vibes pic, November 10, 2022
Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz says among the services required by digital nomads are laundry services; e-hailing and p-hailing services; food delivery; and tourism services. – MOHD HAZLI HASSAN/The Vibes pic, November 10, 2022

“I would like to say it’s very much complementary, it strengthens what Malaysia has to offer. MM2H is a very good programme yet they are pushing for, some may argue, pensioners that are looking at Malaysia as a destination to either retire or enjoy the (country’s) beauty. 

“Where we are looking at is our stakeholders, the digital workers or nomads in this case, which is a new proposition catering to the ecosystem that we know very well,” said Mahadhir.

The DE Rantau programme in Langkawi was launched by caretaker communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

In his speech, Annuar said the government is confident that the presence of digital nomads in Langkawi, known for its duty-free status, will support the economic recovery of local businesses.

The programme is expected to inject a total of RM4.8 billion into the local economy by the year 2025.

Being a digital nomad in Malaysia is world’s cheapest 

After Penang and Langkawi, MDEC looks to expand its wings to Kuala Lumpur and Sabah.

The moment this mushrooms you would have more DE Rantau hubs – and they need more nomads as well – so again it’s about balancing what sort of commitment that the government wants to do and how we respond to that. 

“As it is now, from a cost perspective, to become a digital nomad, we are among the cheapest in the world,” said Mahadhir, adding that the ringgit’s fall against the US dollar was now an advantage in attracting foreign tourists.

Caretaker communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa speaks at the launching of the DE Rantau programme for Langkawi. – NAZIRUL ROSELAN pic, November 10, 2022
Caretaker communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa speaks at the launching of the DE Rantau programme for Langkawi. – NAZIRUL ROSELAN pic, November 10, 2022

But how far will Malaysia meet the expectations of digital nomads, especially when it comes to connectivity?

Mahadhir said demand would determine the government’s efforts to ensure quality internet coverage.

If you don’t have enough applications i.e. demand, then people are not using it, people are not testing it, and you settle on being able to live on the quality that we have today and it’s not good enough.

“So again, using DE Rantau, the digital nomads and also the DE Rantau hubs can provide direct feedback.

“We can track what kind of connectivity that they have over there, whether they have coverage at all, what kind of quality we have – so it’s another way of us testing it out,” he added.

DE Rantau ecosystem partners contribute to its success

The success of the DE Rantau hubs also lies with its ecosystem partners, who make the work and life experiences of digital nomads more meaningful and memorable.

These partners include HostAStay, Tapawfood, Jetpack, AirAsia, Paynet, Tourplus, Grab, Lokalocal, SenangPay, and others.

HostAStay chief executive officer Jordan Oon explained that his firm mainly assists property investors in making their accommodations ready for nomads to stay. 

“The platform manages multiple sectors including check-in; check-out; interior design and renovation; and marketing.

“How we can help DE Rantau is the fact that to us, the programme is just another channel to reach out to digital nomads.

“And we actually see a lot of digital nomads in Malaysia so this DE Rantau programme is very beneficial as they can find places that fulfil their requirements like high-speed internet, immigration, and a pass allowing them to stay longer and work here in Malaysia,” Oon told The Vibes.

HostAStay chief executive officer Jordan Oon explains that his firm mainly assists property investors in making their accommodations ready for nomads to stay. – MOHD HAZLI HASSAN/The Vibes pic, November 10, 2022
HostAStay chief executive officer Jordan Oon explains that his firm mainly assists property investors in making their accommodations ready for nomads to stay. – MOHD HAZLI HASSAN/The Vibes pic, November 10, 2022

AirAsia offers special discounts for digital nomads 

Meanwhile, AirAsia head of strategic partnerships, Yizhen Fung, said that the all-new AirAsia app makes it easy to book flights, hotels, packages, duty-free products, and many more travel and lifestyle deals.

“The AirAsia Super App is a travel lifestyle super app offering services that add a lot of value – from end-to-end for the customer’s travel or journey – so what this means is more than just AirAsia flights, customers can now book flight tickets from 700 airlines across 3,000 destinations around the world. 

They can also book hotels, holiday packages, as well as alternative modes of transport such as buses and trains. They can also ride hailing services – so if they want to get to the airport and they need a ride, they can just call our ride-hailing service and our car will come pick them up,” she told The Vibes, adding that the airline had treats in store for digital nomads.

“We are pleased to offer a special discounted price exclusive only to foreign digital nomads who are DE Rantau pass-holders, a discounted price to our super plus subscription that would allow subscribers to have unlimited flight redemptions as well as unlimited food deliveries for the duration of their subscription.”

Choosing to be a part of the DE Rantau Hub in Langkawi also grants digital nomads with many other local services including food delivery platforms.

Hopping on the bandwagon as a DE Rantau ecosystem partner is TapawFood, whose founder and co-founder are natives of the island.

“We notice there’s a trend where people come to Langkawi and spend more time than they used to – and this is what we call the digital nomads.

“They tend to spend more because they live in Langkawi, so as businesses which already have this system, we would like to utilise and deliver food and beverage services to all these digital nomads – so this is why we are interested to get onto the bandwagon as ecosystem partners for DE Rantau,” TapawFood co-founder Muhammad Afif Aiman Bin Azman told The Vibes. – The Vibes, November 10, 2022

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