Malaysia ranks fifth in Asia for digital readiness, says UNCTAD
13 Dec 2018
Malaysia ranked fifth among top 10 developing economies in Asia for its readiness to support online shopping, based on the 2018 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce index.
A report on the B2C E-Commerce Index by UNCTAD, released on Dec 10, said Malaysia has had strong B2C sales contribution to its gross domestic product (GDP) since 2016 and was among the top five countries including United Kingdom, China, Ireland and Thailand.
Malaysia also improved its overall ranking, among developing economies, to 34th placing from 39th last year, ahead of Thailand (43), Turkey (47), Iran (49), Chile (50) and Saudi Arabia (52).
The index was evaluated, among others, from the share of individuals using the Internet, share of individuals with an account, secure Internet servers (normalise) and UPU postal reliability score.
B2C sales accounted for 6.4 per cent of Malaysia’s GDP in 2016.
“This is because the government partnered Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba, to establish a dedicated e-commerce technology park, Digital Free Trade Zone, the first such facility in South East Asia,” it said, adding that the digital readiness had attracted foreign direct investments in the B2C sector.
“And, so far, Alibaba has invested US$100 million in Malaysia.
Source: Bernama
