THE digitalisation initiative by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) and its agency Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) focusing on traders affected by the Movement Control Order has helped 5,800 people in this target group.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said the Sharing Economy initiative was introduced to assist affected hawkers following the government’s move to ban the traditional Ramadan bazaars nationwide to curb the Covid-19 spread.
He said the effort by the ministry and MDEC was in line with the government’s wish to maximise the usage of digital technology for generating income in the new normal apart from ensuring people follow the Health Ministry’s recommendations on social distancing and minimising direct interactions.
“Through this initiative, about 4,800 food hawkers and petty traders, as well as 1,000 hawkers and traders who sell non-food items such as clothes and beauty products, have been registered via several delivery platforms,” he said in a statement today.
Saifuddin said the move to assist the group went smoothly as the ministry and MDEC had strategic collaborations with platform operators such as Bungkusit, MyMakan, Delivereat, Foodpanda and Helpy, which ensured the hawkers could continue their business virtually and sustain the e-commerce sector.
Meanwhile, MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri noted that MDEC also had other shared platform partners that offered delivery and logistics services, including MatDespatch, Zepto Express, Mr Speedy, Golog, Goget and Lalamove.
“All these platforms can help hawkers and traders in the delivery of products such as clothes, beauty products, documents and vegetables,” she said. – May 23, 2020, Bernama
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