Malaysia to host Smart City Expo KL 2025 in September
Scheduled to take place from Sept 17 to 19 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), the expo is expected to attract more than 2,000 delegates and over 10,000 visitors.
SCEKL25 will be the first South-East Asian edition of the globally renowned Smart City Expo World Congress. It is spearheaded by the Digital Ministry through its agencies, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).
Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the event will serve as a strategic platform for technology providers and AI-driven smart city solution players, reinforcing Malaysia's leadership in regional digital innovation.
"At its core, SCEKL25 is about accelerating a new urban vision - one that is green, efficient, and inclusive, with the rakyat at the heart of every innovation,' he said in a statement on Tuesday (July 15).
According to Gobind, the expo supports Malaysia's aspirations under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, aligns with regional efforts through the Asean Smart Cities Network, and complements the country's ambition to become a Smart Nation by 2040.
MDEC, under the Digital Ministry, is currently spearheading AI Cities initiatives through targeted pilot projects in selected areas across the country.
Meanwhile MDEC CEO Anuar Fariz Fadzil in the statement said the expo will showcase Malaysia's transformation into a digitally connected society, highlighting projects such as predictive traffic systems in Penang, smart traffic optimisation in Kuala Lumpur, and AI-powered geospatial solutions in Sabah.
"Our smart cities will be rakyat-first and planet-conscious, delivering faster and more adaptive public services. With robust digital infrastructure to drive inclusive growth, startups and SMEs will be able to scale beyond borders,' he said.
DNB CEO Datuk Azman Ismail added that hosting the event would bring strategic benefits to Malaysia, including boosting economic growth through business tourism and attracting foreign investment.
"SCEKL25 will elevate Malaysia's global profile in smart city innovation, while driving economic growth through business tourism and strategic foreign investment,' he said.
Held under the theme 'AI Cities: Shaping Our Digital Future', the expo will feature cutting-edge technologies, infrastructure solutions, and future-ready mobility systems aimed at building inclusive and resilient urban centres.
For more information, visit www.smartcityexpokl.com. - Bernama
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Vietnam, China plan first joint army drill amid US tariffs
FILE PHOTO: Soldiers from China and Vietnam carry out a joint border patrol in 2015. - Xinhua BEIJING: China and Vietnam plan to hold their first joint army training exercise this month, a sign of deepening military ties as the two countries grapple with US tariff policies. The exercise aims to strengthen practical cooperation between the two militaries, the Chinese defence ministry said in a Sunday (July 20) statement. It will take place in southern China's Guangxi region, which borders Vietnam. China and Vietnam have carried out joint naval patrols in previous years, but the coming exercise would be the first such exchange between their armies. Vietnam, an export powerhouse that last year had the world's third-biggest trade surplus with the US, is seeking to persuade Washington to lower tariffs on Vietnamese goods. The South-East Asian nation was caught off guard by President Donald Trump's announcement earlier in July that they had agreed to a 20 per cent tariff, Bloomberg News reported. Vietnam is also striving to balance relations with its largest trading partner China, which has warned nations against cutting deals at Beijing's expense. After Trump announced the pact with Vietnam in July, China's commerce ministry said it was "assessing' the situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts with Vietnam to oppose "unilateral bullying' during his visit to the country in April. - Bloomberg
New Straits Times
14 hours ago
- New Straits Times
BRICS defies Western scepticism, charts reformist path
As BRICS (and now BRICS+) matures into a serious platform for South-South cooperation, Western outlets have doubled down on trivialising its substance to neutralise its appeal. The "division and dysfunction" refrain was predictably trotted out in commentaries about the recent 17th BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Chinese President Xi Jinping's absence, his first since taking office in 2012, was swiftly weaponised. The Guardian called BRICS "unbalanced". CNBC suggested that it lacked cohesion. Al Jazeera framed it as "dispersion". Yet few noted that Premier Li Qiang, China's second-in-command, attended in Xi's place (not a foreign minister, but China's top economic policymaker). Far from symbolic, this signalled sustained high-level commitment. Also overlooked: Indonesia joined BRICS as a full member. Not only is it a major Southeast Asian economy, it is also a G20 member. Hardly a lightweight. This undercuts the narrative of weakening cohesion but raises uncomfortable questions about the cohesion of the West's own institutions. Missing, too, is the fact that BRICS operates by consensus, not coercion. Meanwhile, the economic scaremongering felt equally familiar. United States President Donald Trump's revived tariff threats were deployed to overshadow the BRICS summit, suggesting peril for any country engaging seriously with the bloc. The bloc is provoking the global North, we are told. Never mind that many BRICS members maintain close ties with the West, and that the group's own declarations call for reform within global institutions, not withdrawal from them. Nevertheless, the fundamental truth missed entirely is that BRICS economies are productive economies. They manufacture semiconductors, refine oil, export food and mine rare earths. Their growth is grounded in material reality. By contrast, much of the West's economic weight rests on inflated valuations and speculative finance. A tech stock may be worth billions one week and could collapse the next. The same distortive lens is applied to BRICS declarations. Dismissed as vague or aspirational, these statements are rarely read in full. The 2025 declaration proposed the incubation of a multilateral guarantee mechanism and advanced work on digital settlement interoperability. These are not rhetorical flourishes; they are structural shifts. Even Brazil's sustainability initiative was framed as "vague" and dependent on Northern financing. The implication is clear: the Global South cannot innovate without strings and certainly not without permission. This logic reaches its peak by casting the Global South as perpetually poor, passive or behind. The fact that the BRICS summit hosted over 10 partner countries, including Malaysia, Nigeria and Vietnam, each with distinct development strategies and aspirations, is ignored. That these countries are asserting plural models of cooperation is seen not as maturity, but as risk. Rather than meet this shift with clarity, Western commentary doubles down on old tropes, such as the claim that BRICS is anti-Western. It simply does not hold. The group's foundational ethos is reformist, not revisionist. It seeks a more equitable order — one where sovereignty is respected, trade is not weaponised and conditionalities do not dictate policy. It is not a rival bloc, but a parallel platform complementary to global efforts and anchored in international law. This accusation of politicisation is deeply ironic. BRICS is not held together by ideology or enforced alignment. Its members have different political systems, regional interests and diplomatic postures but have chosen to cooperate. That is not political bloc behaviour but rather pragmatic pluralism. Malaysia's participation in the summit itself offers a striking counterpoint to the Western narrative. Notably, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the only foreign leader invited to deliver a keynote at the BRICS Business Forum. More than symbolic, his presence sparked a cascade of bilateral engagements — many requested by other nations. Anwar positioned Malaysia as a bridge between East and West, showcasing the bloc's appeal as a platform for pragmatic diplomacy, not polarised alignment. In truth, BRICS is doing what the West once claimed to champion: empowering developing nations to co-shape the rules of global engagement. Its institutional growth is real, from think tank networks to cross-border infrastructure platforms. Its financial architecture is maturing. The West's critique of BRICS says less about BRICS itself, and more about its own anxiety over declining influence. The writer is the founder of think tank EMIR Research
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
AI roadmap by 3Q this year
Innovative technology: Gobind (left) visiting a booth after launching the National AI Competition 2025 at Sunway University in Selangor. — Bernama PETALING JAYA: A National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap that outlines a five-year plan is expected to be launched by the third quarter this year, said Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo. According to Gobind, the national AI roadmap from 2026 to 2030 is expected to have an entire chapter on AI education, and his ministry will be speaking to different sectors after the announcement. 'The document is ready. 'However, we anticipate launching it in the third quarter of this year,' said Gobind after he launched the National AI Competition 2025 at Sunway University yesterday. Gobind also said it is important to spread awareness about AI education, as it could foster interest in technology adoption among students. 'So, we will look at what data can be digitised and used to strengthen our education system,' said Gobind, adding that the national AI roadmap will focus on all sectors, and different ministries will be involved for that purpose. 'Different ministries will deal with different sectors, such as health and transportation, among others,' he said. Gobind said his ministry will also get feedback from other ministries on the issues faced by the country's sectors. 'We will devise a plan to overcome these challenges. 'One of the key areas is to ensure that we build talent that is able to optimise the potential of technology as we move forward,' he said. At the same time, Gobind said Malaysians should look at the use of generative AI such as ChatGPT as a form of innovation that can better their lives. 'Like it or not, technology will continue developing, and in this journey, we will see more innovations that can better our lives,' he said. In 2021, the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry announced the National AI Roadmap 2021-2025, which outlined frameworks in agriculture, healthcare and education. Meanwhile, Gobind said over 2,500 students participated in the National AI Competition 2025, and more higher learning institutions should organise competitions as such. 'This is important because this is a platform where we can see how the technology is used and how it can benefit us,' said Gobind. 'This event gives important exposure to students, and I hope after this, every student will bring this message to their friends and family members that it is time to ensure that the nation is AI-ready.'
