KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 16): Axiata Group Bhd president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said talent is becoming more critical in determining the company's ability to compete and grow as digitalisation gains momentum.

Axiata is a mobile telecommunication network provider. In a statement today, Jamaludin said the world of connectivity and communication is fast changing, and the telecommunication industry has no recourse but to learn new ways on how to engage customers, build solutions and create services.

"For Axiata, our employees across every business in each country whether here in Malaysia or the furthest reaches of Nepal, are core and fundamental to our success. Today, as digitalisation gains rapid momentum, talent becomes even more critical to the group in determining our ability to compete and grow in our markets," he said.

"In total we have deployed close to US$40 million (about RM167 million) on talent development since 2009 and as we journey into the next phase of our growth and to realise our ambitions of being a Digital Champion, we are dedicating significant resources to address our employees' digital learning needs. The objective is to transform our company in the way we, as employees across the region, think, act, work and create with a digital mind set," he said.

Axiata issued the statement here today in conjunction with a media briefing on the launch of Axiata's Digital Talent Transformation. At 12:30pm, Axiata shares settled at RM5.31, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM47.86 billion.