MITI says internal investigation into World Expo issue concluded

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) has concluded its internal investigation into the alleged World Expo controversy, where it was accused by Current Media Group (CMG) of stealing its Malaysia pavilion concept without giving due credit or compensation. 

MITI said in a statement in response to A+M's request for comment, that "MITI has completed its investigation on this matter. We have contacted CMG and will engage them further". However, the ministry did not share the findings of its inquiry.

The statement came on Friday evening (18 July), the day after it was served a Letter of Demand (LoD) on 17 July. Sources confirmed with A+M, that the ministry has indeed reached out to CMG's founder Fey Ilyas to set up a meeting in the coming week.

Upon further checks, it was found that Bernama and The Edge published a statement by MITI regarding its stance on the matter on Saturday (19 July), but the articles have since been removed. However, repopulated versions can still be found on Daily Express and KL Screener for the time being. 

Don't miss: MITI served letter of demand over allegations of stolen World Expo pavilion concept

Last week, CMG took legal action against MITI, issuing a formal LoD after what the company says were more than two months of inaction on MITI’s promised investigation into alleged creative appropriation tied to the Malaysia Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka.

According to CMG, founder Fey Ilyas first raised the alarm on 25 April 2025 in a public post detailing similarities between the pavilion’s approved concept and a proposal CMG had earlier presented to MITI, before the official tender process began. The post drew wide attention and prompted MITI, on 26 April, to state that an internal inquiry was under way.

CMG now claims that since MITI’s statement, the ministry has made “no request for documents, interviews, or clarifications,” nor provided any substantive update on the investigation’s progress. The firm says it has “exhausted all informal avenues for dialogue,” leading it to instruct counsel to serve the LoD on 17 July.

Back in April, MITI announced that it initiated an investigation over a social media post which claimed that the ministry did not compensate or credit a creative agency for its concept of the Malaysian Pavilion for Expo 2025 at Osaka.

"MITI takes note of the allegation pertaining to the Malaysian Pavilion concept creation that has been circulating on social media and reported by the press. MITI is currently undertaking a thorough investigation to gather and ascertain all relevant facts concerning the allegation made by an individual on social media," it said at the time.

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