E-commerce adoption rate among SMEs to grow 50 pct by 2020

SME Corp Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Hafsah Hashim said SMEs were expected to be the main growth driver in the e-commerce industry, moving forward.

The industry was poised to grow 11 per cent per annum by 2020, accounting for 6.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, she told a press conference on the first National E-commerce Council meeting chaired by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed who later launched the 'Go Global Malaysia' programme here today.

Among other things, the meeting discussed the implementation of the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap for 2017 and 2018.

"Today, we can see more SMEs getting involved in e-commerce, and they will be supported by the 'Go Global Malaysia' programme.

"We have already done it (e-commerce programmes for SMEs), but we want to do it better now. It (Go Global Malaysia) is more comprehensive, a total end-to-end package for SMEs," she said.

Hafsah said the programme was created to increase SMEs awareness of the opportunities in e-commerce, as well as, the business know-hows, including how to handle challenges.

She added that SMEs' success in e-commerce was due to their efficiency in running their business.

The 'Go Global Malaysia' programme is a public-private partnership initiative led by industry partners, namely, Google, Alliance Bank, Mastercard and Maxis, along with government partners including the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation.

The programme empowered SMEs to build their business capabilities, connect with digital ecosystem partners, promote international exports and grow to be globally competitive companies.

Hafsah said the value of SME e-commerce transactions was expected to grow to 15 per cent by 2020 compared with about six per cent currently.