The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and a local start-up research and advisory firm have announced a partnership to boost the growth of the country’s start-up ecosystem, starting with Kuala Lumpur.
An official statement said that the firm will perform its start-up ecosystem assessment to identify policies and initiatives to support the potential of Malaysia’s start-ups and the wider innovation ecosystem as part of the partnership.
The firm will engage the country’s start-up founders along with investors, policy leaders, and other key stakeholders for inputs.
The Founder and CEO of the firm stated that the company looks forward to working closely with the start-up community to bring the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to the Malaysian start-up economy.
It was noted that Malaysia has the potential to be a regional and world leader in multiple start-up sub-sectors.
The company is the research and policy advisory organization for governments with a commitment to accelerating start-up ecosystems in a country. It claims to have more than 100 clients across five continents in 38 countries.
Malaysia’s ecosystem reported a digital economy that contributed to 18.5 percent of GDP in 2018. Its internet economy was valued at US$8 billion with growth rates at an average of 19 percent between 2015 to 2018.
Malaysia’s numbers are reflective of ASEAN’s internet economy hitting US$100 billion in 2019 and expected to grow to US$300 billion by 2025.
The CEO of MDEC stated that Malaysia is an ideal place to testbed and launch tech start-ups due to its cultural and demographic diversity as well as its business-friendly environment.
The government also continues to play an active role in supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs, she added.
This partnership between the two organisations builds on the momentum established by MDEC. The agency is confident that the company’s insights and track record in space will help realise local startups’ potential and firmly establish Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.
MDEC’s Support Diverse Projects and Start-Ups
MDEC has a diverse portfolio of initiatives and projects aimed at enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Malaysia.
For example, in November 2019, OpenGov Asia reported that MDEC chose a logistics start-up from Singapore as its cross-border eCommerce initiative partner to help drive Malaysia’s National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR).
As MDEC’s partner, the firm is working to help Malaysian SMEs grow abroad by providing cross-border logistics solutions that can deliver its products throughout Southeast Asia.
To help MDEC drive the NESR further, the logistics company has also been collaborating with MDEC to hold events to actively bring more Malaysian businesses onboard eCommerce and the DFTZ.
At these events, the firm shared insights to help enhance merchants’ use of cross-border eCommerce and how to make use of Southeast Asia’s international eCommerce opportunities.
The firm will also link Malaysian SMEs to various eCommerce partners. Through these partners, Malaysia’s merchants can obtain tools and expertise across the entire eCommerce ecosystem including international market entry and online marketplace listings, and more.
Then later, in January 2020, MDEC pledged its continued support to local companies that have excelled in producing animated films of a global standard.
The support will not only enable local companies to emerge as global champions but also to advance the animation industry which contributes to the country’s digital economy.
The government, through its 2020 Budget, had allocated RM20 million to MDEC to help nurture local talents who can produce world-class digital works.
Meanwhile, MDEC, together with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, is working to make the Digital Content Ecosystem (DICE) policy a reality — the policy is aimed at making Malaysia the hub of the digital content industry in the region.
This move is aimed at providing a platform for local talents to hone their creativity and expedite the commercialisation of digital content that was of global quality.
Overall, be it start-up support projects, e-commerce or animation, the years ahead appear to see the Malaysian tech landscape becoming better, with fortified support from all quarters, including the lead government agencies, the private sector and the general public.
