by TMR / pic by BERNAMA

MALAYSIA will intensify efforts to encourage micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to adopt digital technologies in production, processes and business services, mainly in the back-end of business operations, in line with the 12th Malaysia Plan’s aspiration (12MP).

The 12MP unveiled on Monday includes the positioning of Malaysia as the Asean digital centre, given the country’s strong capability in cybersecurity solutions and digital content products.

“The focus on digitalising MSMEs and to position Malaysia as the Asean digital centre through the 12MP reaffirms the impact of MDEC’s twin initiatives of #SayaDigital and Malaysia Heart of Digital Asean.

“We will continue to push forward initiatives to establish a progressive and inclusive digital economy in line with our vision as well as the goals of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint,” Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) CEO Mahadhir Aziz (picture) said in a statement yesterday.

MDEC’s initiatives such as eRezeki, eUsahawan and Global Online Workforce have collectively brought more than RM2.15 billion in income generated.

More recently, MDEC has kicked off the 2021 edition of the 100 Go Digital Coaching programme, which aims to enable businesses in key sectors to move towards digitalising their businesses to remain competitive, sustainable and profitable amid the pandemic.

For the year, MDEC said it has kickstarted the Go-eCommerce Onboarding and Shop Malaysia Online campaigns that will benefit 300,000 local businesses by helping onboard them into e-commerce and e-payment platforms.

From 2017 to 2020, up to 489,000 SMEs has been aided to adopt e-commerce, with companies using e-commerce for export growing from 1,800 to 27,000.

The Digital Investments Future5 strategy, a five-year plan focusing on five key thrusts, is aimed at attracting investments and advancing Malaysia’s digital economy.

By 2025, MDEC aims to have landed catalytic and high-quality digital investments to unlock new drivers of growth, which will be supported and facilitated by the digital investment office.

MDEC’s initiatives are also aimed towards reskilling and upskilling new and existing workforce for the digital economy.

The Digital Skills Training Directory, for instance, serves as a one-stop guide to digital reskilling and upskilling via a catalogue of 250 courses and online training providers that have been specifically reviewed and endorsed by MDEC’s Talent Expert Network.