Cyberjaya, 9 November 2020 – As part of the RM35 billion stimulus package under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) that was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in June 2020, the Government has allocated RM140 million to implement the PENJANA Micro, and Small-and-Medium-Sized-Companies (MSMEs) E-Commerce Campaign and PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online initiative via Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), as the lead agency to implement these e-commerce initiatives. Executed using a public-private partnership co-funded together with 22 participating e-commerce partners, both initiatives were rolled out during the months of June and August respectively, and in a short time have generated e-commerce sales of over RM1.2 billion as the partners have collectively reported by the end of the campaign period.
Launched in late June, the PENJANA MSMEs E-commerce Campaign was introduced to facilitate local businesses to sustain their operations and gradually enhance productivity to spur short economic recovery. This campaign aims to encourage the adoption of e-commerce by local businesses focusing on MSMEs to help widen their market reach. Co-funded by the Government and e-commerce partners, the campaign has benefited new and existing MSMEs through onboarding training, seller subsidy and sales support via 20 participating e-commerce platforms.
To date, the participating e-commerce partners have collectively recorded over 45,000 new MSMEs registered on the various e-commerce platforms and a total of over 115,000 MSMEs that have benefited from the campaign. Total e-commerce sales generated from the campaign currently sits at over RM332 million.
“As we combat the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the Government’s main aims is to ensure economic stability and to protect the livelihoods and businesses of the people. I’m glad that the PENJANA MSMEs E-commerce initiatives have achieved such encouraging results within a short period of time. This bodes well our economic recovery efforts in the short- and medium- term. The Government will continue to facilitate local MSMEs and entrepreneurs in shifting their businesses online as not only helps them expand their customer reach, but also ensure that they are future-ready and competitive,” said YB Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Finance (MOF).
Complementing the PENJANA MSMEs E-commerce Campaign was the PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online, an initiative designed to encourage online consumption of products from local retailers through digital vouchers. Like the PENJANA MSMEs E-commerce campaign, PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online was co-funded by the Government and 22 participating e-commerce partners.
The initiative was undoubtedly a success as it generated over RM896 million in e-commerce sales which has benefitted over 7.8 million consumers and over 210,000 Malaysian sellers nationwide.
Besides the sales generated from both of MDEC’s initiatives, the other spillover effects from the increase in digitally-powered businesses would mean that it brings new job opportunities for Malaysians whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic. Furthermore, both initiatives also provided benefits to local e-commerce players such as those providing digital marketing, delivery and e-payment services.
“There has been an increasing number of consumers opting for online shopping instead of visiting physical stores in this “new normal” that COVID-19 brought about. We can see that the digital shift to e-commerce will help future-proof the economy. The PENJANA MSMEs E-commerce campaign and PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online initiative are real proof that Malaysian businesses and consumers are ready to go digital and thrives to make Malaysia as the heart of digital ASEAN. Today, we reached a milestone in the growth of the total PENJANA e-commerce sales with total number of e-commerce sales amounting RM1.2 billion being generated within four months and we would like to thank our partners for making both of the PENJANA E-Commerce initiatives a success,” said MDEC’s Chief Executive Officer Surina Shukri.
“We will definitely continue to accelerate digital transformation and encourage e-commerce adoption amongst local MSMEs through our eUsahawan and Go-eCommerce programmes. Both of which are designed to cultivate digitally-skilled Malaysians and digitally-powered businesses,” added Surina.
MDEC attributes the success of both the PENJANA MSMEs E-Commerce Campaign and PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online initiative to the Government and industry partners, and MDEC would like to thank the MOF and 22 e-commerce partners namely, Boost, Carousell, ConfirmPlusChop, DeliverEat, Elokal, eRomman, FashionValet, Fave, foodpanda, Grab, JOCOM, Kedai Matdespatch, Lazada, Lokein, Maybank, MyGroser, OURSHOP, PG Mall, Shopee, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Youbeli and Zalora for their cooperation and unwavering support.
For post-PENJANA e-commerce initiatives, digitalisation success stories and to get the latest information for various e-commerce programmes, visit www.go-ecommerce.my.
