WITH the Budget 2021 announcement shining a spotlight on the country’s digitalisation efforts, the numerous allocations brought hope to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and e-commerce startups.
For example, the RM35 mil allocation for the promotion of local products and services would prove beneficial for the local e-commerce players to remain competitive as retail patterns shift online.
The RM150 mil allocation to help startups and SMEs could also help accelerate the adoption of digital technologies.
“All businesses, be it big or small, should seize the opportunity to invest in technology in order to simplify and automate routine administrative processes so that they are better placed to capture growth opportunities when the economy improves,” Mednefits CEO Chris Teo said.
Even before the pandemic, e-commerce has had an increasing share of the retail pie, but the current outbreak has further accelerated that shift.
For many businesses, e-commerce offers an unprecedented level of reach; where they once would have had only a stall at a night market, business owners are now reaching customers on the other side of the world thanks to online shopping.
Recognising this, the Government has been proactive in tailoring the Short-term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) to reflect the ‘new normal’, with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) rolling out a programme specifically geared towards helping small businesses to build their e-commerce capabilities.
According to MDEC CEO Surina Shukri, Malaysia has already implemented various initiatives to expand the e-commerce sector and had even shown some initial successes and continued to plan strategies.
Based on a study conducted by MasterCard, Malaysia ranks in the top few in terms of e-wallet usage in Southeast Asia, followed by the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
“This gives the impression that Malaysians are already practising cashless transactions (overseas) which is one of the elements of e-commerce,” Surina said.
She also pointed out that MDEC has experience in developing e-commerce through collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, which was implemented when the country was still threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is not impossible that the good performance of e-commerce will continue while benefitting the people of various groups, as well as empowering the people digitally,” she added.
The e-commerce boom
Malaysia has come a long way in terms of e-commerce since the day that the Digital Free Trade Zone went live in November 2017, showing promise for the SMEs to capitalise cross-border trade.
The hub serves as a cluster of facilities catering for customs clearance, warehousing and logistics to facilitate trans-shipment air cargo volumes.
In a Jan 6-12, 2018 issue of FocusM, a home-grown bird’s nest producer Yanming Resources Sdn Bhd said that DFTZ was instrumental in reducing shipping costs and hastening payments.
“Prior to DFTZ, we did not have much choice in terms of logistics partners as we only had one courier provider to ship goods to China. The DFTZ opens up our options and we managed to save about 50% of logistics costs by choosing one with the best price and service,” he said, commenting on the vast opportunities that the DFTZ offers. – Nov 20, 2020
