Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MiGHT), an independent and non-profit organization that drives the advancement of high technology competency and capacity in Malaysia, and Bloktex Sdn Bhd, a company that conducts blockchain-related conferences, seminars, and workshops across Asia, have joined forces to develop the country’s blockchain industry, Bernama reported.

On the sidelines of the recently held Kuala Lumpur Blockchain Conference, MiGHT Blockchain Programme director Mastura Ishak told reporters (as quoted by The Sun Daily):

“Malaysia has started looking at blockchain since last year and although it is a relatively new industry with only a few global players, we believe Malaysia can excel if we focus on a niche segment within the industry.

“We are seeing encouraging response from foreign players who are interested to set up centres of excellence for blockchain here to educate the younger generation.”

Ishak noted that blockchain technology is a part of the digital economy and has been included among the top 10 emerging technologies of 2016 by the World Economic Forum.

Ahmad Suhairi Samsudin, Bloktex chief financial officer, said that the company aims to increase public awareness on blockchain technology and its applications, which go much beyond financial technology.

"Blockchain provides better security with its decentralised server system. It will be impossible to hack the system with the server being distributed in many locations and separated by blocks.

"The government is also very open to this technology. MiGHT has introduced us to a few government-linked companies which are interested in working with us to make their servers more secure," he added.