Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said the initiative was a progressive step in modernising the operations of the national postal service, in line with technological developments.
“This project is the first of its kind in Malaysia’s postal sector, opening opportunities for the country to explore the wider use of autonomous vehicles.
“We recognise that the mail delivery sector is facing significant challenges as a legacy service, but the shift towards a more sustainable business model must be supported to ensure the continuity of services,” he said at a press conference after launching Pos Malaysia’s autonomous vehicle and witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Pos Malaysia and ALS for a proof of concept (POC) project at the National Mail Centre.
Fahmi said the initiative did not involve Pos Malaysia alone, but was a cross-ministry and agency collaboration that included the communications ministry, transport ministry, science, technology and innovation ministry, Mimos, Digital Nasional Bhd and other strategic partners.
On the POC project, he said Pos Malaysia would conduct tests of the autonomous vehicle at the National Mail Centre for three to six months while awaiting full approval from the transport ministry.
He said the initial use of the autonomous vehicle would focus on intermediate routes such as from the mail centre to major post offices rather than direct home deliveries.
He also said the success of the project depended on the readiness of digital infrastructure, including 5G coverage, in line with the government’s plan to develop a national digital infrastructure policy to safely and effectively support future technologies.
He maintained that the introduction of this technology would not result in job losses, stressing the government’s stance on safeguarding the welfare of workers.
“The adoption of technology must go hand in hand with efforts to preserve employment, possibly through retraining and upskilling, so that workers can perform more complex tasks,” he said.
Fahmi also reminded all sectors not to use technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation as an excuse for large-scale layoffs.
On government support, he said the communications ministry had allocated RM50 million to assist Pos Malaysia in fulfilling its universal service obligation, particularly for nationwide mail delivery.
He said the funds would be disbursed pending the establishment of the Postal Services Fund, which is expected to be operational in the third quarter of this year under the supervision of the ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.