KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — Malaysia is expected to maintain its position as one of the top e-commerce markets in Asean, with its gross merchandise value (GMV) likely to grow 6.0 per cent to US$11.4 billion (US$1=RM4.09) in 2020.

In a statement today, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) said the e-Conomy SEA 2020 Report by technology giant Google, Singapore state-owned investor Temasek and global consultancy firm Bain & Company had projected Malaysia’s GMV to rise to US$30 billion in value by 2025.

To further boost the country’s e-commerce market in Asean, the National Council of Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution (MED4IR) chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin endorsed the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR) 2.0 on April 22, 2021.

This was following the positive achievements of NESR 1.0,” MDEC said, adding that it has been tasked with leading the Project Management Office of the NESR 2.0 Taskforce with the mandate to oversee the successful implementation of NESR 2.0.

MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the NESR 2.0 prioritises the adoption of e-commerce among local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by 2025 in line with the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL).

She said more than 489,000 MSMEs had adopted e-commerce, while 378,000 SMEs had been trained in e-commerce until the end of 2020.

SMEs exporting products grew exponentially from 1,800 to 27,000 companies and the sector attracted investments worth RM1.5 billion for the establishment of regional e-fulfilment hubs, which enables e-commerce merchants to outsource warehousing and shipping.

To accelerate these efforts, NESR 2.0 will be in implemented from 2021 to 2025, aiming to onboard 875,000 MSMEs, boosting 84,000 e-commerce export adoption and increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU) to RM9,500.

These key objectives are aligned to the MyDIGITAL under Thrust Two (boosting economic competitiveness through digitalisation) and Thrust Five (to create an inclusive digital society).

“At the same time, these objectives also align with MDEC’s agenda of Malaysia 5.0, which aims to empower a society integrated with technology based on inclusive, sustainable and equitable growth,” she added. — Bernama