The digital economy is expected to contribute around 20 per cent to Malaysia’s gross domestic product this year, according to Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC).
MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the digital economy had been growing steadily over the last two years with an overall RM270 billion contribution, or 18.5 per cent, recorded at the end of 2018.
“We expect continued growth in the digital economy. We want micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to propel the economy forward, leveraging digital technology for a wider reach, enhancing productivity and saving costs,” she told the New Straits Times in an interview yesterday.
She said most businesses transformed digitally “by default” due to the pressures exerted by the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions in movement.
“Businesses are now no longer asking why they need to transform digitally, but rather focusing on how to adopt digitally. This is a big change for local businesses as the momentum is very encouraging.
“For us (MDEC) and our partners, we are scrambling to ensure we can provide the how. Hence the accelerator training programme like e-usahawan is meant to help provide the how.
“We capitalise on the momentum to accelerate/enable the digital adoption. SMEs need to dedicate their time and resources to adopt digitally and make this switch.”
She said e-commerce was a big part of the digital economy and predicted the GDP contribution from the platform would reach RM170 billion this year.
Surina said the digital adoption in business was a broad journey involving online presence, e-commerce, digital operations (goods and services), digital process and adoption of advanced technology.
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