Digital Malaysia: MDeC launches SME e-commerce reward programme

• MDeC partnering with TM, MYNIC and easyparcel.my, aims to train 600 SMEs
• To help SMEs use digital technology business models to raise productivity

THE Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) has announced an e-commerce reward programme to spur the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) doing business online, as part of the Digital Malaysia initiative.
 
Partnering with Telekom Malaysia (TM), MYNIC and easyparcel.my, the reward programme aims to train 600 SMEs and will reward the top 25 as Digital Malaysia e-commerce success stories with prizes worth up to RM175,000 (US$54,630), MDeC said in a statement.
 
From June 12 until Sept 12, SMEs interested in the programme are invited to register with any of the three e-commerce training providers: Lelong.my, MYNIC or easy.my. They will be taught how to set up an online presence, drive traffic to their sites which can be converted into sales, and use related programmes and partners to increase sales.
 
The 25 Digital Malaysia e-commerce success stories will be selected based on the highest revenue via e-commerce adoption and the highest number of customers during the three-month duration of the programme.
 
The top 25 SMEs will be announced during the Digital Malaysia #MYCyberSale announcement in October.
 
The three-day nationwide #MYCyberSale is similar to the United States’ initiative known as Cyber Monday, which seeks to draw participation from Malaysia’s leading retailers, MDeC said.
 
“E-commerce is a key component of the digital economy and its significance has also been recognised as one of the key ICT subsectors in the Digital Malaysia 354 Roadmap,” said Wee Huay Neo (pic), director of the SME cluster and initiative at MDeC.
 
“We hope that this first-of-its-kind reward training programme will further boost the adoption of e-commerce in Malaysia, increase the country’s domestic e-commerce revenue, and ultimately raise SMEs’ productivity via digital means,” she added.
 
The e-commerce reward programme reflects a recent study on the Internet and e-business adoption of Malaysian SMEs that MDeC commissioned.
 
Although SMEs constitute 99.2% of the total establishments in the country, the survey findings showed that 65% of SMEs surveyed do not use the Internet for e-business and 68% of them do not have a website.
 
Overall, SMEs recognised the need of having web presence but concern over cost deters them from establishing a website for their businesses, MDeC said.
 
Digital Malaysia is a national programme to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020 by creating an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of digital technology in all aspects of the economy.
 
This will include connecting communities globally and in real time, in order to increase the nation’s Gross National Income (GNI), enhance productivity and improve standards of living.
 
SMEs are one of the four key communities identified for initial intervention under Digital Malaysia. The initiative aims to help SMEs to use digital technology business models to raise their productivity by shifting labour-driven enterprises to knowledge-driven enterprises through the adoption of digital technologies.
 
To participate in the Digital Malaysia e-commerce training reward programme, SMEs must be registered with Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (Companies Commission of Malaysia) and can visit http://www.digitalmalaysia.my/e-commerce-reward-programme/ for more information.
 
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Next step for Digital Malaysia: The ‘DM354’ roadmap
 
SMEs to drive innovation in Internet-related services: McKinsey
 
 
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