MDEC needs to expedite approval of grants, assistance for digital SMEs - Annuar

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has been asked to expedite the approval of grants and assistance to digital small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa in a tweet today said that over RM40 million allocated for the purpose needs to be approved this year.

"Each application must be processed and decided upon within a period of 60 days," he said.

MDEC, an agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, is also the programme manager for the Smart Automation Grant (SAG), a matching grant for services SMEs to automate their business processes and move towards digitalisation.

Meanwhile, Annuar said among MDEC's initiatives are the #SayaDigital programme aimed at increasing digital acceptance and skills among the general public and SMEs, as well as the 100GoDigital and dan Perkhidmatan eDagang Setempat (PeDAS) programmes.

He said efforts to digitalise 300,000 SMEs were also enlivened through the Go-eCommerce and Shop Malaysia Online campaigns, apart from the Malaysia, Nadi Digital ASEAN campaign which was created with the aim to lure high-value investment and to create strong technology job opportunities.

While wishing Happy 25th Anniversary to MDEC, Annuar also expressed hope that the agency would continue to drive the country's digital economy under the leadership of its newly-appointed chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz.

Meanwhile, Annuar said among MDEC's initiatives are the #SayaDigital programme aimed at increasing digital acceptance and skills among the general public and SMEs, as well as the 100GoDigital and dan Perkhidmatan eDagang Setempat (PeDAS) programmes.

He said efforts to digitalise 300,000 SMEs were also enlivened through the Go-eCommerce and Shop Malaysia Online campaigns, apart from the Malaysia, Nadi Digital ASEAN campaign which was created with the aim to lure high-value investment and to create strong technology job opportunities.

While wishing Happy 25th Anniversary to MDEC, Annuar also expressed hope that the agency would continue to drive the country's digital economy under the leadership of its newly-appointed chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz.

-- BERNAMA