Malaysia’s e-commerce revenue to reach RM1.65 tril by 2025
07 Apr 2022
Malaysia’s e-commerce revenue surpassed RM1 trillion in 2021, revealed Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
The country is on track to achieve RM1.65 trillion by 2025, supported by the National E-commerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR), led by MDEC, he said. Mahadhir added that the NESR is a stepping stone towards digital trade, which is to take advantage of the opportunities available in digitisation.
“Digital trade in Malaysia is expected to reap significant benefits through the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (RCEP). Malaysia is among the 15 RCEP countries, which in essence, is the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the world.”
“This means local businesses now have vast access and opportunities within the world’s largest trade bloc,” he said at the launch of Meta Malaysia’s #JomCelikDigital Dengan Meta on Thursday (April 7).
Mahadhir added that MDEC’s #SayaDigital campaign, a platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Malaysia to adapt to digital, has successfully helped 500,000 businesses (157,566 of which are women entrepreneurs) adapt to e-commerce platforms and e-payment systems. In total, they have managed to generate 85 million transactions with a gross goods value (GMV) of over RM4.6 billion.
“We are confident that there should be more than RM1 trillion now and it is consistent with the target we have for 2025. We’re also basing it on the data during the MCO (movement control order) that caused a spike in online businesses but the momentum is there and it should be sustained going forward,” he said.
Meta spurs Malaysia’s digital economy #JomCelikDigital Dengan Meta, Meta’s largest digital upskilling initiative the country, with a focus on the B40 (low income) group, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), tertiary graduates and job seekers.
The programme, launched at a hybrid press conference by Mahadhir and Nicole Tan, country director of Meta Malaysia, has four digital upskilling programmes that will be introduced in phases starting April 14.
The first programme is Meta Boost, which aims to empower more than 1,000 from the B40 communities and MSMEs nationwide by providing free educational workshops to equip them with digital skills that can help them engage customers successfully. It will include free educational workshops and training by Meta’s programme partners.
Next is Pasar WhatsApp, which aims to teach more than 1,000 MSMEs on the various features of WhatsApp Business to digitalise their business. Participants will be introduced to features, like Catalogue, automated replies and how to build a quick business profile with essential information for customers who reach out through WhatsApp.
An Instagram Academy was also launched, which is a training programme that will provide support to more than 1,000 local entrepreneurs and MSMEs with Instagram tools and educational material to connect with their customers and communities in more engaging ways, for example, through short form videos like Reels.
Lastly, the Facebook Blueprint Higher Education Programme aims to empower students with real-life digital marketing skills, as well as support educators in developing digital-savvy talents. It will target more than 1,000 students’ participation and 500 certifications in the Blueprint Digital Marketing Associate (Blueprint DMA) Certification. Workshops will be delivered by local Blueprint Certified Lead Trainers and those who complete the programme will be a Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate, which will serve as a great addition to students’ CVs. Meta’s Tan says digital transformation is no longer a luxury but a need, especially for MSMEs that faced a lot of challenges over the last two years because of Covid-19.
“The latest digital technology developments bring about changes in existing business models, as well as new creations, introduction of new products and services and increased efficiency of business processes, which ultimately makes businesses more competitive, especially among entrepreneurs and SMEs,” she said.
Source: The Edge Markets
