The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead agency in digital transformation, will accelerate digitalisation initiatives roll out following the announcement of the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (PEMULIH) by the nation’s Prime Minister.
Now, more than ever, digitalisation will be both necessary and crucial. As announced under PEMULIH, MDEC will be leading the charge to enable increased adoption of AgTech with the aim of achieving food security and sovereignty, provide job opportunities as well as enhancing the livelihood of farmers in Malaysia.
Current key Digital AgTech initiatives by MDEC such as the eLadang programme has successfully benefitted 548 participants as of December 2019. Of this, 78 farmers have utilised digital farming technology leading to a 20% increase in productivity and 30% income increment as well as a reduction in operating cost by 30%.
Three digital labs were also formed to train, certify and drive digital technology adoption in farming. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday, MDEC will step up its collaborations with various district farmers associations to further digitalise and transform the agricultural industry.
MDEC will also place emphasis on the shared economy front via its eRezeki and Global Online Workforce (GLOW) initiatives, as announced yesterday via PEMULIH. eRezeki, a programme that enables citizens, especially low-income groups, to generate additional income by doing digital assignments via an online crowdsourcing platform, have so far seen 460,000 registrations and more than 339,000 participants earning income. It has generated RM1.1 billion worth of income to date.
GLOW, a national programme designed to enable Malaysians to become part of the online global workforce and earn income independently, has seen more than 85,000 participants trained and more than 54,000 of them earning income, generating RM232 million.
In relation to the Go eCommerce and Shop Malaysia Online campaigns, which witnessed a tremendous achievement led by MDEC last year where RM1.87 billion worth of sales were recorded, the agency looks to build on its success and is looking forward to creating a wider impact in 2021. RM300 million has been allocated to support the digitalisation agenda and to promote e-payment adoption as well as to catalyse the growth of eCommerce.
As the Project Management Office of the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap 2.0 (NESR 2.0), MDEC is aiming to onboard 875,000 local businesses, boost 84,000 eCommerce export adoption and place Malaysia as the largest eCommerce market in the ASEAN-6 region by 2025, in line with the goals set in the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL).
MDEC is fully focussed on accelerating the digital transformation of the nation and strengthening our programmes across the board in benefit of the Rakyat and nation, in line with our goals of Malaysia 5.0, nation deeply integrated with technology, providing equitable digital opportunities to the people and businesses.
Another article notes that on 15 June 2021, the Prime Minister of Malaysia unveiled the National Recovery Plan (NRP) which comprises four phases. With the First Phase being extended from 29 June 2021 until the thresholds for implementing the Second Phase are attained, the Prime Minister launched an RM150.0 billion financial aid package, the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat Dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (Pemulih) on 28 June 2021.
Pemulih has a value of RM150.0 billion, of which RM10.0 billion is a direct fiscal injection by the government. It has three focus areas, namely:
- continuing the rakyat welfare agenda;
- support businesses; and
- accelerating vaccination.
This Alert will briefly outline the initiatives under Pemulih which seek to support businesses.
