Growing The Digital Economy With An Enabling Digital Environment
Growing The Digital Economy With An Enabling Regulatory Environment
PUTRAJAYA, 1 March 2022 – In conjunction with MyDIGITAL Corporation’s oneyear anniversary since its launch, the government agency collaborated with the World
Bank to organise a virtual dialogue titled “Growing the Digital Economy with an
Enabling Regulatory Environment”, which is the first of a two-part series of industry
discussions under the theme, “Driving the Digital Economy: What is needed?”.
Malaysia is on track to achieve a digital economy contribution to GDP of at least
25.5% by 2025. This is supported by progress across several fronts in 2020, including
a 22.6% GDP contribution from the digital economy, growth of 26.5% in e-commerce,
internet access of 93.5% in urban households and 83.9% in rural households, and a
current population coverage for 4G mobile services of 95%. Nevertheless, Malaysia’s
regulatory environment needs to evolve for the digital economy to thrive.
The objective of the session today was to continue to identify and address the gaps
in the regulatory landscape in Malaysia to support the growth of the digital economy.
Industry feedback was sought on the preliminary findings and insights from a study
conducted by the World Bank as well as the work of the Committee on Legislative
and Regulatory Framework for Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution
(4IR), under the MyDIGITAL initiative. The Committee was established to address
challenges posed by the regulatory environment, which cut across the six clusters
established to govern the implementation of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint:
- Digital Talent;
- Digital Infrastructure and Data;
- Emerging Technology;
- Economy;
- Society;
- Government
The topics discussed include key regulatory impediments to digitalisation, conducting
cross-border activities, as well as scaling and expanding internationally. Dato’ Sri
Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), along
with Dr. Yasuhiko Matsuda, Country Manager for Malaysia, World Bank Group were
on hand to hear the views of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and larger
organisations, on the legislative and regulatory improvements proposed.
Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed said, “Feedback from the industry, which is based on
real-world business needs, is important to develop a conducive regulatory ecosystem
to promote a more dynamic and competitive market environment. The participation
from all stakeholders is key to the Whole-of-Nation approach that we have adopted
to drive the success of the MyDIGITAL initiative. The industry and government must
work together to overcome the challenges of digitalisation, especially in proposed
regulatory and institutional reforms that would support the growth of our digital
economy”.
The discussions underscored the importance of regulations in facilitating the dynamic
nature of the digital economy. Several areas for improvements were identified during
the session, such as regulations surrounding personal data protection, the use of
open data and the ability to transact digitally. As an example, enhancements to data
protection are needed to facilitate the rapid evolution of services through the use of
data, while ensuring the safety and security of the data. Similarly, competition laws
should address the new needs for competition regulation, particularly for issues
relating to digital platforms.
Moving forward, such necessary enhancements to the regulatory framework will be
part of the MyDIGITAL initiative, and implementation will be tracked and monitored
through the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
Dr Yasuhiko said, “A clear and legally robust regulatory framework for digital business
activities will be a key pillar to enhancing competitiveness and place Malaysia on a
stronger footing to compete on the international stage. Through this engagement, we
hope to strengthen our partnership with the Government of Malaysia, working with
MyDIGITAL Corporation to drive the nation’s vision of being at the forefront of digital
economy transformation and achieving the key development objectives set out in the
Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint.”
“Driving the Digital Economy: What is needed?” is part of a Dialogue Series under the
MyDIGITAL initiative, designed to seek the views of key stakeholders on policies and
programs to achieve Malaysia’s digital economy vision, as part of its Whole-Of-Nation
implementation approach. MyDIGITAL will also be planning several other events to
mark its one-year anniversary, such as Program Sembang Digital Usahawan in Jeli
and Program Transformasi Digital Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah in Kota Bharu.