PENANG, MALAYSIA - 16 DECEMBER 2021 - As the world recovers from the global pandemic, government, business and academic leaders from Malaysia, China and the other Asia Pacific countries came together at the Global Chinese Economic & Technology Summit (GCETS) to share ideas about how to shape the future economic world in the years to come.
“The acceleration of digital technology creates abundant opportunities and new possibilities for business, education and community to make impactful changes for a better world,” said ViTrox’s President and CEO Chu Jenn Weng in the panel session about the growth of digital technology and digital economy post-pandemic. Instead, he said there is no better time than now to rethink how business, technology and the economy should run for the betterment of the majority.
Technology has become a game-changer in the global economy in recent years. Beyond digital technology, GCETS organising chairman Tan Sri Michael Yeoh said that many countries have adopted a new green deal with the adoption and innovation in green technology.
In the annual international forum, Chu shared that he foresees smart factories and smart precision farming as the two technological trends in the coming years. During the peaks of the pandemic, many companies across the world were resilient and responded effectively to the crisis with the ability to streamline operations and automate manual processes with robotics, AI technologies and big data analytics. “Many of the changes could be here for the long haul,” Chu said. Smart factories integrated with advanced technologies make machines run automatically and autonomously as well as make real-time monitoring possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe food shortages and domestic food price inflation across the globe. Chu said there are many great agritech companies in China, such as DJI and FJ Dynamics, which have effectively revolutionised the country's agriculture landscape. "I believe we, from Malaysia and ASEAN countries, can learn and collaborate with these companies to accelerate the agricultural transformation and help respective countries to achieve food self-sufficiency in the future," Chu said.
With the rapid rise of technology and innovation, the rebranded Global Chinese Economic & Technology Summit covered the role of technology in business, education, healthcare and economic growth. Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, the founder and patron of GCETS, said the summit serves as a platform to enhance connections between China and the world and among the global Chinese diaspora so that all can learn from one another and co-create a strong economy. The event held in Malaysia this year also provided an opportunity to showcase Malaysia as the perfect place for industries and corporates as given its strategic geographical location in the heart of ASEAN.
