Much work still needs to be done to achieve Malaysia's digital aspiration - Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR: Much work remains to be done to achieve Malaysia's digital economy aspiration, said Minister in The Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said that while Malaysia has done well overall, the way forward post-COVID-19 is quite challenging.

Mustapa reckons that to realise the nation's digital ambition, a whole-of-Malaysia approach is needed so that the people, via the Keluarga Malaysia concept, can move forward together.

Malaysia's digital economy is expected to contribute 25.5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.

"We need to create more high quality employment opportunities for Malaysians.

Mustapa said Malaysia has targeted 90 per cent of MSMEs in Malaysia to digitalise their business operations and that their contribution to GDP is estimated to increase to 45 per cent.

To power the digital economy, Malaysia will also need to produce more skilled technical talent.

"We need to focus more on improving our technical and vocational education and training (TVET) ecosystem, to better prepare graduates to be future-ready," he added. "For inclusive development, we need to ensure equitable access to more affordable, reliable and quality broadband services and digital services so that the hardcore poor, B40 and vulnerable groups are not left behind."

In addition, he said the private sector will continue to be an important development partner to the government. "Private sector investments, both foreign and domestic, will continue to be essential across several areas such as in growing our high impact strategic industries, driving the green economy agenda, and building equitable digital infrastructure," he noted.

The Tech for Good Institute's inaugural report has highlighted Malaysia's digital infrastructure and high digital adoption by consumers as important strengths.

About 67 per cent of Malaysia's population have digital access through mobile phone subscriptions, and 83 per cent of this group have adopted digital payments through mobile wallets.

Malaysian consumers are also digitally savvy, with 83 per cent already making purchases online.

Over 70 per cent of the MSMEs surveyed in the e-commerce and food and beverage sectors said they would have worse declines in sales if they had not leveraged on digital platforms to conduct their business.

-- BERNAMA