Even though Covid-19 may have sparked a global recession, it also sped up the digital transformation of the economic and social industry, especially in Southeast Asia where digitalisation was already outpacing other countries.
The use of digital tools has become a normal way to provide more business opportunities for everyone due to the limitation of living, working and doing business during Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, digital apps are a “must” as a uniform platform for Ecommerce, food delivery, transportation, the media and later, online travel and hospitality.
Based on the report ‘e-Conomy SEA’ 2021 by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company stated that the gross merchandise value of digital trade and E-commerce has increased and is expected to keep growing at a 14% annual rate until 2021 where it may reach US$35 billion.
In addition, the report also indicates that Malaysia has increased to having three million new digital users within one year during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, organisations accelerated the use of digital adoption to adapt the market change to survival and business sustainability. Furthermore, a report cited by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) mentioned that the value of digital trade and E-commerce may increase by nine fold to US$52.7 billion by 2023. However, this is contingent upon the country accelerating its adoption of digital technology.
Besides, the World Bank has warned that the overall adoption of digital rates among smaller enterprises is frequently low in Malaysia. Its Digital Adoption Index also showed that Malaysia has lagged behind not just Singapore but also Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in the past few years.
In order to combat this problem, the Malaysia Government found the perceived weaknesses in digital adoption and seeks more opportunities for the digital economy to expand and flourish. In order to encourage digital adoption, the Malaysia Government has launched or revised several national projects in the future, such as MyDIGITAL.
Click HERE to read more