Affordability, incentives draw in digital nomads to Malaysia: Tourism board

July 8, 2024

PUTRAJAYA – Digital nomads are increasingly drifting towards Malaysia due to its affordable cost of living, incentives for remote workers and low inflation rates, says 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,” according to its director-general Manoharan Periasamy.

He said “workation” (working vacation) and “bleisure” (business and leisure) had gained popularity with the introduction of DE Rantau, Malaysia’s digital nomad programme, 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 in an interview.

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

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

Malaysia targets to attract some 80,000 digital nomads by 2025.

The programme is expected to inject some RM4.8bil 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 US$69,000 (RM325,024), with the majority possessing skills in software development, digital marketing, and AI and machine learning.

A 2023 year-end survey revealed that 40% of approved applicants are in Malaysia with their families, which impacts 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 neighbouring 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 number one most preferred country by digital nomads in December last year.