MBSB Research said Thursday that it viewed Malaysia’s AI Nation 2030 positively, being the policy bridge between Malaysia’s current data center investment cycle and the next phase of domestic artificial intelligence (AI) value creation.
“If one could appreciate Jensen Huang’s five-layer AI cake comprising energy, chips, computing infrastructure, models and applications, it becomes clear that AI Nation 2030 seeks to strengthen not only Malaysia’s physical AI foundations, but also the higher-value layers of compute accessibility, sovereign and localized models, governed datasets and commercially scalable applications,” the research house said in a note.
It highlighted the plan seeks to deepen domestic participation further up the stack by improving compute access, developing governed national datasets and supporting localized models and applications.
“This is important because the economic value of AI should progressively migrate from supplying land, power and buildings towards generating recurring revenue from compute, cloud services, proprietary models and enterprise applications,” it noted.
Malaysian government earlier launched the National AI Action Plan 2026-2030 (AI Nation 2030), alongside a rebranding of the National AI Office (NAIO), now institutionalized as AI Malaysia Berhad.
This is the country’s five-year implementation blueprint for integrating artificial intelligence into the economy and public administration.
The vision is for Malaysia to become a value-driven AI nation that uses AI to advance inclusive growth, sustainability and the well-being of the Malaysians.
By 2030, the overarching goals are for Malaysia to rank among the top ten countries in the Global AI Index, generate an additional 1.2 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) growth attributable to AI, and create 300,000 AI-related jobs.
AI Nation 2030 has two principal components – Impact Engines and Foundational Enablers.
The framework is structured around 14 sector-specific Impact Engines covering areas such as healthcare, smart cities, public services, manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, power utilities, oil and gas services, agriculture, plantations and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
These are supported by Foundational Enablers encompassing talent development, research commercialization, data-sharing infrastructure, high-performance computing, AI governance, regional AI Growth Zones and sustainable funding.
“We view that the plan is intended to connect Malaysia’s existing strengths in semiconductors, data centers, connectivity, energy infrastructure and public digital platforms with the missing layers of the AI value chain namely usable data, affordable computing capacity, skilled talent, local models, sector applications and trusted governance,” said MBSB.
It is noted that six initiatives have been identified as catalytic priorities.
On the application side, these are Healthcare, AI Cities and Public Services.
On the enabling side, they comprise a Global Talent Network, AI Growth Zones and a Holistic and Sectoral AI Governance.
The intention is to concentrate early resources on programs capable of producing measurable outcomes
within approximately two years before attempting a broader deployment across the portfolio.
The projects are intended to operate as lighthouses, producing initial datasets, use cases and reference implementations that encourage subsequent private-sector
participation.
A substantial part of the plan concerns the use of AI within government.
Proposed applications include a unified AI citizen interface through MyGOV Malaysia and MyDigital ID, AI-assisted civil-service workflows, automated knowledge management, procurement and grant administration, and eventually AI-supported policy simulation using anonymized multiagency datasets.
“If implemented effectively, the government could become an important anchor customer for domestic software companies and AI solution providers,
“It would also generate the initial use cases and datasets needed to commercialize Malaysian AI products,” said MBSB.
MBSB sees construction, utilities, renewable energy and to a certain extent, property and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are potential beneficiaries.
“At the base of the AI stack, utilities represent both the principal enablers and the binding constraints on further expansion,” said the research house.
Consistent with its recent thematic report on data centers, it believes the next phase of digital-infrastructure growth will be determined less by land availability alone and more by the sustainable availability of power, water and connectivity.
“AI Nation 2030 supports greater renewable energy integration through flexible grids, advanced analytics and AI-enabled solar generation management, while the compute framework proposes linking data center incentives to renewable energy and power efficiency targets.,
“This should strengthen demand for utility-scale and Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects as AI-related electricity consumption scales, benefitting engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) players,” it added.
As for construction, MSBS sees the players are near-term beneficiaries because data center contracts aid in order-book replenishment and progress billings.
Property and REITs, on the other hand, sit mainly within the infrastructure-enablement layer and should therefore be assessed more selectively.
“Those with strategically located industrial land, power access and data-center partnerships can monetize the theme through land sales, joint developments, recurring leases or appreciation in surrounding industrial assets,” said the research house.
It is noted that the earlier National AI Roadmap 2021–2025 was primarily concerned with building readiness through governance, awareness, research, infrastructure and talent development.
AI Nation 2030 seeks to elevate Malaysia from readiness to execution by channeling resources on measurable sector outcomes, clearer ownership and initiatives capable of being commercialized or scaled nationally.
It also aims to shift Malaysia from being mainly a consumer of foreign AI technology towards producing globally competitive Made by Malaysia AI products and services.
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