KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — The government is targeting 10,000 digital economy entrepreneurs nationwide, through the Digital Economy Centre (PEDi) initiative next year, said Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said that PEDi is among the government’s efforts to produce local e-commerce entrepreneurs, in addition to encouraging people to generate income without having to migrate from the settlement area.

"Once, I met a lady selling beads in Sarawak, whose monthly income can reach RM25,000, and there is another lady who runs a bakery in Morib, Selangor, and her income is more than RM50,000 a month...and this is the opportunity we present and provide to the people,” he said.

He said this when appearing as a guest in the Suara Anak Madani programme, which also featured the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, at the National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage (Aswara), today.

PEDi is an initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD), through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), as well as telecommunication service providers, which provide opportunities for local communities to strengthen their digital skills and generate income through e-Commerce.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said that as many as 1,878 Madani Communities have been formed, and are in the process of being appointed nationwide, which will play an important role next year in delivering information and government policies to the people throughout the country.

He said that the Madani Community is a multiracial volunteer body, managed by the Information Department (JaPen).

"Today we can see the challenge is a different audience and different way of communicating. There are half of the places where we can (deliver) online, and maybe we can channel the information through television, and there are some places where we have to go to coffee shops (face to face).

"At the same time, I also see that every ministry has a role to make sure that the message they want to convey to the people is in a form which is easy to understand,” he said. — Bernama