Grow Your Export with MATRADE’s eTRADE 2.0 Programme
Assisting Malaysian Businesses During Tough Times
The COVID-19 pandemic has a far-reaching impact and no one is spared from it. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns worldwide have caused massive disruption to global trade and overall economic growth, as both regional and global supply chains are badly affected.
However, in order for businesses to survive and rebound from this doom and gloom, agility and responsiveness to changes are crucial to adapt to the “new” norm that is fast becoming the way of life. The situation today is the best time for companies to intensify into digitalising their businesses, as there was an upsurge in eCommerce activities and digitalisation initiatives both in Malaysia as well as the rest of the world.
In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to US$3.53 trillion and are projected to grow to US$6.54 trillion by 2023. With the ever-increasing size of the global eCommerce market, coupled with the current travel restriction, there is no better time for Malaysian SMEs to capitalise on eCommerce platforms to sustain and further accelerate their exports.
Under the 11th Malaysia Plan, MATRADE - the national export promotion agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), implemented the eTRADE Programme from 2017 until 2020 to assist Malaysian companies by offering export facilitation to cover part of the onboarding cost for companies to join cross-border eCommerce platforms.
Since the programme’s inception, a total of 3,358 SMEs have benefited from the eTRADE Programme in terms of increased business opportunities from the numerous enquiries received globally, besides enhancing their technical know-how in doing online business. For the period of 2017 to 2019, the programme generated RM273.9 million in export sales.
SMEs also managed to increase their export revenue and penetrated new markets such as China, Cambodia, Japan, Australia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and US.
In addition to increased export sales and brand awareness, the higher adoption of eCommerce among SMEs has also facilitated jobs creation in sectors such as logistics, fulfilment services and digital solution providers.
In the spirit of assisting Malaysian exporters further, under the 12th Malaysia Plan, the government has approved the enhancement of eTRADE programme, whereby new features are added to the programme namely digital marketing activities and eCommerce-related training.
Under eTRADE 2.0, Malaysian SMEs will be offered two schemes of financial assistance – the Onboarding Scheme worth RM5,000 and Digital Marketing and Training Scheme (DMT) Scheme worth RM20,000.
Through the Onboarding Scheme, qualified Malaysian SMEs will be eligible to utilise up to RM5,000 per company in the form of reimbursement for their expenses incurred in onboarding cross-border eCommerce platforms of their choice. The SMEs are also allowed to join multiple platforms under this scheme, allowing them to have more options in choosing the eCommerce platforms that best suit their needs and target markets.
For the DMT Scheme, qualified SMEs will be able to receive up to RM20,000 per company in reimbursement for their expenses in conducting digital marketing activities to promote their products overseas and for eCommerce related training programmes they choose to attend.
These activities covered under both schemes underline MATRADE’s commitment to realise the aspirations of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital), as eTRADE 2.0 is in line with Thrust 2: Boost Economic Competitiveness Through Digitalisation.
*Malaysian SMEs are encouraged to kickstart their cross border eCommerce exports by applying for eTRADE Programme 2.0 now at www.matrade,gov.my/en/etrade
