Malaysia's total trade, which was quite flat recently, should be viewed more realistically by looking at the global trade trend, says International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

He said global economic growth is still sluggish, at around one percent, and Malaysia, being a big trade player and ranked 23rd in global trade, is exposed to the downtrend.

"Almost every country's trade growth has been sluggish or negative, and we cannot be bucking the trend and be bullish in our forecast," Mustapa told reporters after the launch of e-Commerce Day and the soft launch of the National e-Commerce Strategic Road Map.

The fastest growing part of the world happens to be the smaller economies with a low impact on global trade, he said, noting that what is happening in China, India, the US and the European Union would give a greater impact.

However, he said, Malaysia is still expected to register a moderate growth of around one to two percent in total trade for the second half by adopting more aggressive and creative approaches.

Global trade contracted about 2.9 percent in value and 1.7 percent by volume quarter-on-quarter, while Malaysia's total trade in April this year was flat at RM113 billion.

Effort to drive e-commerce agenda

On today's event, which was organised by his ministry in collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Mustapa said it is an effort to drive the national e-commerce agenda as well as to reach out to and educate the public and local business communities.

He said e-commerce growth is vital to Malaysia's economic future and the government is committed to accelerating the adoption of the platform, especially by small and medium businesses, with the focus on micro businesses.

E-commerce trade currently contributes about 5.8 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), and with the strategic road map to be implemented, the government projects the contribution to increase to about 10 percent by 2020, said Mustapa.

Although Malaysia's e-commerce is growing at a commendable 10-11 percent annually, the country still lags behind other countries such as China (21 percent of GDP) and the US (35 percent of GDP), he said.

He said efforts must be stepped up and much needs to be done to accelerate the development of the sector, including by having the National eCommerce Council to discuss the strategic roadmap.

Mustapa said six key thrusts in the roadmap will be discussed - accelerating seller adoption, promoting the national brand to boost cross-border e-commerce, making strategic investments in selected e-commerce businesses, providing eonomic incentives, lifting non-tariff barriers, and increasing adoption of eProcurement by businesses.

- Bernama