KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Malaysia’s e-commerce was ranked first in term of growth among the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries in the latest Deloitte’s Technology-empowered Digital Trade in Asia Pacific report.

In a statement today, Deloitte said the total size of Malaysia’s e-commerce market stood at US$6.297 billion (RM26  million) this year, representing 61.4 per cent of the e-commerce market size in China and ranked among developing markets after Indonesia and Thailand.

The audit, consulting, tax and advisory services provider said the nation also has the highest penetration rate for sales digitalisation for cross-border e-commerce at 65.7 per cent.

However, it said overall cross-border e-commerce Malaysia has been limited by factors such as cross-border logistics infrastructure and technical operations, impacting its development.

"At present, cross-border consumption only accounts for 42 per cent of the market size of the internet economy in Malaysia, which is much lower compared to mature markets among RCEP members,” it said.

Deloitte said it categorised Malaysia, together with Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, as developing markets after China, South Korea, Singapore and Japan, which were among mature markets.

Early-stage markets were Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.

It said the region is expected to enter a golden age for digital trade over the next three years.

"The continuous improvement of digital infrastructure will effectively resolve the two major constraints affecting cross-border trade —  logistics and payments.

"Blockchain technology is also creating a new space of imagination for digital trade,” it said.

Additionally, it said critical infrastructure such as 5G would help build data distribution platforms and new network architectures and facilitate the Internet of Everything.

"The vast accumulation of big data coupled with artificial intelligence will also play a key role in intelligent decision-making,” it said.

Meanwhile, it said the rise of micro-multinational enterprises (mMNEs) has become the main drivers behind the transformation of digital trade in Asia Pacific.

It said the mMNEs provided diversified "locally-made products” and light customisation services for global buyers while contributing to over 85 per cent of Asia Pacific’s cross-border e-commerce activities.

WorldFirst head for China Frankie Fan said the company reckoned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to play a crucial role in the economic recovery in the region.

"With the support of cross-border online sales and payment infrastructures and the RCEP starting to take into effect next year, SMEs of the region will increasingly gain foothold in the cross-border trade,” he added.

WorldFirst is a leading international payments business with over 40 per cent market share in China, Japan and Korea. — Bernama