Building the PETRONAS of Data
On Saturday, 1 August 2026, our Managing Director, Amir Isyam Abdul Rahim, published his latest Policy & Profit column in The Star titled “Building the PETRONAS of Data.”
The article explores an increasingly important question in the AI era: How can Malaysia protect its data while also transforming it into long-term economic value for the country?
While data governance and privacy protections remain essential, Amir argues that protection alone is not enough to address the growing risk of “data colonialism,” where global technology companies collect local digital data, transform it into high-value AI products and services, and sell them back to the countries and communities from which the data originated.
To break this cycle, the article proposes that Malaysia treat public sector data as a strategic national asset and establish a specialised state-owned enterprise (SOE), a “PETRONAS of Data,” to consolidate, refine, and responsibly commercialise the country’s data assets while safeguarding national interests and data privacy.
Ultimately, the article argues that Malaysia must move beyond being a consumer of foreign digital products and build the capabilities needed to capture greater value from its own data. In the AI era, data is not simply a resource to protect. It is a strategic economic asset that can strengthen Malaysia’s digital sovereignty, long-term competitiveness, and position in the global AI value chain.
📖 Read the full article in The Star:
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/insight/2026/08/01/building-the-petronas-of-data
#Kementerian Digital Malaysia #Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) #MyDIGITAL Corporation #Ministry of Finance Malaysia #Economic Planning Unit #AI Malaysia #DataSovereignty #DataEconomy #AIGovernance #PublicPolicy #Malaysia #DigitalEconomy #ArtificialIntelligence #DataColonialism #BusinessStrategy #GLC
