M’sia can be China’s window to Asean e-commerce, says Wee
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia can be the window for China to penetrate the huge market of e-commerce activity in Asean, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said Malaysia’s digital economy formed a substantial part of the national economy and was expected to contribute more than 20% of GDP by the year 2020, up from 17.8% of GDP now.
In fact, Malaysia is the leading e-commerce market in the region generating revenue of US$2.3bil in 2015. Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong
“In fact, Malaysia is the leading e-commerce market in the region generating revenue of US$2.3bil in 2015, and has a strong foundation in developing e-commerce where 76.9% of Malaysians have access to the Internet and 89.4% of them use their smartphones to surf the Net,” he said at the forum themed “International Cooperation Along the Digital Silk Road” during the 4th World Internet Conference (WIC) held in Wuzhen, China yesterday.
More than 1,500 delegates from over 80 countries gathered to examine and promote consensus
building on issues of the state of the Internet and shape long-term cyberspace policies at the three-day summit also known as the Wuzhen Summit.
Quoting the 2017 FacebookEconomist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report on Internet inclusiveness, Dr Wee said Malaysia was ranked first out of 75 countries in the category of readiness, which examines the capacity of a country to access the Internet, including skills, cultural acceptance and supporting policy.
“With increasing efforts from the
Malaysian Government, more affordable Internet access and support from society, Malaysia is ready to expand its Internet inclusiveness to the next level,” he said.
He said the Government had installed public Internet centres called “1Malaysia Centres” in rural areas to allow more people access to the Internet, with 820 centres in operation and user membership reaching 550,000 people.
Dr Wee said Malaysia had also launched the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), a regional e-Fulfill-
ment Hub to facilitate growth in e-commerce through seamless cross- border trade, Satellite Services Hub and e- Service Platform.
He added that an estimated US$65bil worth of goods would be moved through DFTZ, with 60,000 jobs to be created by 2025.
Dr Wee, who is MCA deputy president, also participated in the plenary session held after the opening ceremony at the Wuzhen Internet International Conference and Exhibition Centre on Sunday.