Leading Transformation: Economy Cluster Under MED4IR

MITI organised the inaugural meeting of Economy Cluster under the National Council of Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution (MED4IR) on 19 April 2021. Sets out to boost economic competitiveness through digitalisation, the Economy Cluster meeting brought together members from the public and private sectors as well as think tank luminaries.

MED4IR is a Council chaired by Prime Minister YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Economy Cluster spearheaded by YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, is one of the six clusters supporting the role of the Council. The other clusters are tasked to develop Malaysia’s digital and data infrastructure; talent pool; delivery service of the public sector; an inclusive digital society; and digital environment.

MED4IR was established to provide clear leadership in mapping Malaysia’s digital transformation policy. It also encapsulates inclusivity, a whole-of-nation approach and prioritises public-private sector collaboration to promote a sustainable digital transformation for Malaysia. Accordingly, the Economy Cluster assumes its part by strategising efforts to elevate Malaysia’s economic competitiveness through digitalisation.

Efforts coordinated by the Economy Cluster meeting are aligned with MyDIGITAL and the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (DEB) that were launched on 19 February 2021. MyDIGITAL and DEB signify the Government’s commitment to transform Malaysia into a digitally-driven, high-income nation and a regional leader in the digital economy. At today’s meeting, the Economy Cluster members discussed policy directions on two key components of the digital economy, namely e-commerce and investment.

On e-commerce, the meeting acknowledged the monumental achievements of the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR), implemented from 2016 to 2020, including:

1. 378,487 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have adopted e-commerce through various business educational and upskilling programmes;
2. 231,365 SMEs participated in the programmes by Ministries and Agencies under NESR in 2020 itself;
3. 27,635 SMEs have successfully exported their products and services through e-commerce platforms via programmes by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) such as eTrade and other joint programmes organised with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC); and 
4. RM1.5 billion of investments were approved to establish regional e-fulfilment hubs in Malaysia. In 2020 alone, RM863 million new investments for e-fulfilment hubs projects were approved by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). 

The Economy Cluster meeting today also endorsed the rollout of the NESR 2.0 document with the primary target of having 825,000 MSMEs adopting e-commerce by 2025 and this agenda will be led by MITI and MDEC.

MITI is at the forefront of this agenda and fully committed to driving Malaysia’s digital transformation, particularly in industrial development, investment, trade and productivity policies.  As for the nation’s investment, Malaysia’s value proposition is embedded in the National Investment Aspiration (NIA). The NIA is aimed at attracting quality investments driven by innovation, high-technology, green economy and greater inclusion of domestic supply chains. This reflects the Malaysian Government’s commitment to facilitating investors, enhancing efficiency and improving the ease of doing business in the country.

In line with the MyDIGITAL and NIA agenda, MITI together with the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia have agreed to set up a platform, known as Digital Investment Office (DIO), run collaboratively by MIDA and MDEC. The DIO platform will streamline and strengthen the efforts in attracting and facilitating all investments in digitalisation in Malaysia. 

During the meeting too, MIDA introduced InvestMalaysia portal, an online application submission platform with an integrated technology system that optimises automation for data processing and seamless data capturing and analysis. Currently, InvestMalaysia portal offers 10 modules on online applications and serves as a single-entry point for the industry stakeholders. This new initiative is expected to deliver a more efficient evaluation, some with an automated approval process and easier information-sharing at a single-entry point.

Such real-time investment project updates and reporting on a centralised data warehouse will allow faster and more accurate analysis and enhanced KPI monitoring functions by the Government. This digital initiative will expedite investors’ applications and ultimately enable companies to accelerate their project implementation.