More needs to be done to support local MSMEs to leverage digital solutions
PETALING JAYA: To further unlock the potential of Malaysia’s digital economy, more still needs to be done to support local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to leverage digital solutions to improve business productivity and expand consumer reach, a report by Tech For Good Institute (TFGI) and Bain & Company highlighted.
In a press statement, TFGI, a non-profit think-tank founded by Grab, with Bain & Company, released TFGI’s inaugural ‘Platform Economy: Southeast Asia’s Digital Growth Catalyst’ report which highlights Malaysia’s digital infrastructure and high digital adoption by consumers.
It noted that 67 per cent of Malaysia’s population has digital access through mobile phone subscriptions and 83 per cent of this group have adopted digital payments through mobile wallets.
Malaysian consumers are also digitally savvy, with a large majority at 83 per cent already making purchases online.
However, to further unlock the potential of Malaysia’s digital economy, more needs to be done to support local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to leveraging digital to improve business productivity and expand consumer reach, as well as to develop a robust tech ecosystem to help Malaysian start-ups seize global opportunities for venture capital funding and tap on tech talent.
The report also calls for strong public-private collaboration to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy, including approaches to manage new economic and social changes, while continuing to facilitate innovation.
TFGI seeks to be the region’s thought-leadership platform for the public and private sector to jointly study, share expertise and discuss socio-economic trends driven by technology, in order to facilitate policy understanding and design in the digital age.
TFGI also hosted its first national dialogue in Malaysia which is its first national dialogue that brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to discuss the impact and role of digital platforms in Malaysia, and how to jointly collaborate to fully harness the potential of Malaysia’s digital economy.
The dialogue was graced by guest-of-honour Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. Other speakers at the dialogue included key representatives from the public and private sectors such as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz, Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) CEO Iskandar Ismail, Aerodyne co-founder Azita Azizan, and Economic Action Council (EAC) executive director and professor of Economics, National University of Malaysia Tan Sri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali.
“Malaysia has made significant progress on its digital journey.
“Today, any Malaysian can supplement their household income part-time. Our graduates or unemployed are now able to access flexible, supplementary income, giving them a safety net to fall back to. Some Malaysians no longer visit wet markets, yet our pasar entrepreneurs thrive online.
“And for the first time in our nation’s history, a deaf or disabled driver could ferry a passenger, since navigation is now fully digital. As with all of these examples, I believe that there was always a will; we just needed to create a way,” said Grab Malaysia managing director Sean Goh.