Deputy Economy Minister confirms KL20 Summit for June 2026, aiming to make Kuala Lumpur a top 20 global startup hub by 2030 with over 5,000 registered startups

KUALA LUMPUR: The KL20 Summit is scheduled for June 2026, Deputy Economy Minister Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah announced.

He explained the summit was not held in 2025 as the initiative, launched the prior year, required time to assess startup development aligned with new innovations and technologies.

“The KL20 summit is the government’s main initiative to promote Malaysia as a hub for the world’s top 20 startup ecosystems,” Mohd Shahar said during a Dewan Negara session.

He was responding to a query from Senator Datuk Koh Nai Kwong on the status of key government initiatives including KL20.

Mohd Shahar stated that startup economies are based on innovation, which demands a long process to yield results.

He added that 2025’s focus will be on making improvements with the greatest emphasis on venture capital.

The implementation of the KL20 Action Plan will continue to involve all relevant ministries and agencies.

It will be jointly monitored by the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The plan aims to position Kuala Lumpur within the top 20 global startup ecosystems by 2030.

To date, 5,005 startups have been successfully registered via the MYStartup platform.

More than 24,000 recipients have benefited from initiatives under the KL20 Action Plan.

Mohd Shahar said the plan will be strengthened in line with the government’s existing priorities.

On the Central Database Hub (PADU), he said it now contains profiles of over 30.7 million citizens and permanent residents.

This resulted from data integration with 204 agencies and 670 data sets, creating a secure national database.

Regarding the People’s Income Initiative (IPR), a total of 6,988 households have participated.

Forty per cent of those participants are now earning more than RM2,000 per month.

Forty-seven IPR Intan projects are currently being implemented, involving nearly 1,700 participants.

Cumulative sales revenue until January 2026 is estimated at RM22 million, with average additional monthly income around RM1,850.

The Ministry of Economy is considering new IPR Intan projects targeting an additional 600 participants.

It is also planning the expansion of existing projects into new and wider geographical areas.

 The Sun Malaysia