Drive for digital talent gears up

Digital nomads are increasingly drifting toward Malaysia due to its affordable cost of living, incentives for remote workers and low inflation rates, according to Tourism Malaysia.

"They can travel and work remotely across various locations in Malaysia while having access to stable broadband connectivity and other facilities and services," said Manoharan Periasamy, director-general of the agency that promotes the country domestically and internationally.

He said "workation" (working vacation) and "bleisure" (business and leisure) had gained popularity with the introduction of DE Rantau, Malaysia's digital nomad program in October 2022.

"DE Rantau has benefited both local talents and foreign nomads by creating a vibrant ecosystem that supports the nomadic lifestyle," he said.

DE Rantau was first launched on Sept 13 in Penang as one of the Malaysia Digital Catalytic Programmes to make the country the preferred digital nomad hub to promote digital professional mobility and tourism.

The move allows them to stay and work in Malaysia for up to 12 months, with an additional year when renewed.

Alongside the exclusive pass, digital nomads are also offered services during their stay in the country.

Malaysia aims to attract about 80,000 digital nomads by next year and the program is expected to inject about 4.8 billion ringgit ($1.02 billion) into the local economy.

As of June 13 this year, DE Rantau has received 3,218 applications with 1,506 of them approved.

The applicants come from 78 countries, with the top five being Russia, Pakistan, Britain, Japan and Australia.

The average annual income of these approved digital nomads is $69,000, with the majority possessing skills in software development, digital marketing, and artificial intelligence and machine learning.

A 2023 year-end survey revealed that 40 percent of approved applicants are in Malaysia with their families, impacting their spending on tourism, education, food, accommodation and transportation.

Manoharan said Malaysia is expected to see a proliferation of digital nomads, augmenting the existing global network of remote workers and complementing those in neighboring regions.

He believes there will be a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills between these global talents and Malaysian professionals.

There have been various reports indicating Malaysia's popularity with digital nomads.

According to Remote, a global human resources platform, Kuala Lumpur made a big leap from 84th place in 2022 to the 22nd spot last year in its list of Top 100 destinations for remote work.

Malaysia was ranked by the nomadlist.com platform as the most preferred country by digital nomads in December last year.

The Star