The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead agency in the digital economy, in collaboration with an e-commerce service in Malaysia announced the launch of the Malaysia Select Campaign (via a Malaysia-Taiwan shopping platform) which aims to assists Malaysian businesses to expand to Taiwan.
The campaign is scheduled to run from 1 October to 10 October 2021 and is supported by the Commerce Development Research Institute of Taiwan, Exabytes, EasyParcel and Janio. This online sales campaign also targets to provide support to at least 800 local businesses to increase their sales by at least 30% and gain significant brand exposure in Taiwan.
It was noted that public-private initiatives such as this are important as the Government works to grow Malaysia as an eCommerce producer rather than just merely consumers, in line with the goals of National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR) 2.0 which aims to place the nation as the largest eCommerce market in the ASEAN-6 region by 2025.
The Chief Digital Business Officer of MDEC stated that the agency aims to further catalyse the growth of eCommerce in Malaysia and is of equal importance, sustaining livelihoods and jobs in the process. The aim is to accomplish the goals of MyDIGITAL and place the nation firmly on course towards creating a globally competitive digital nation, anchored on inclusivity, sustainability and shared prosperity, firmly establishing Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.
MDEC and the e-commerce platform in close consultation with the Commerce Development Research Institute of Taiwan will be providing a kick-starter programme to participating local online businesses to introduce their brands and market their offerings to new market segments in Taiwan.
The Chief Business Development Officer and Co-Founder of the e-commerce platform stated that the company is glad to have a shared vision with MDEC to offer continuous support and leadership in pushing the e-commerce agenda forward for Malaysian businesses.
In line with this, the company strives to simplify the selling process not solely on providing an easy-to-use e-commerce platform, but also to equip local businesses with the ability to export. Together, the two can help local businesses to achieve greater sales and greater global competitiveness via this campaign.
Webinars will also be conducted to equip the participants with knowledge, tips and tricks in marketing to Taiwan. All local businesses are welcomed to register and participate. The application date to be part of Malaysia Select is now commencing until 31 Sept 2021 at the website.
Local businesses still without an online store presence may also embark on their eCommerce journey via the e-commerce platform single sales channel plan with no cost. Merchants can also upgrade and customise based on their requirements.
As of the end of 2020, more than 489,000 MSMEs adopted e-commerce while 378,000 SMEs were trained in e-commerce. SMEs exporting grew exponentially from 1,800 to 27,000. The sector also attracted investment worth RM1.5 billion for the establishment of regional eFullfilment hubs.
Malaysia’s e-commerce market is quickly becoming one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Its growth is outpacing that of traditional established markets in the region. This was apparent even before the impacts of the pandemic— Malaysia’s business-to-consumer e-commerce value increased 39% in 2019 alone. This growth in e-commerce has been coupled with the growing consumer preference for online shopping and the availability of customised payment options in recent years.
In 2020, Malaysia’s e-commerce market is worth US$4.3 billion and is expected to double to $8.1 billion by the year 2024; at 14% CAGR. Malaysia is now catching up to bring its e-commerce infrastructure, including product availability, payments, delivery and regulatory requirements, in line with more established online shopping markets.
