MDEC helping SMEs to take digital leap in new norm - director
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has introduced several initiatives on e-commerce, the gig economy, talent development and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) growth, to empower and sustain the target group with digital transformation in the new norm.
MDEC Business Digital Adoption director Muhundhan Kamarapullai said the agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry has been promoting digitalisation among SMEs since the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO).
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has introduced several initiatives on e-commerce, the gig economy, talent development and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) growth, to empower and sustain the target group with digital transformation in the new norm.
MDEC Business Digital Adoption director Muhundhan Kamarapullai said the agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry has been promoting digitalisation among SMEs since the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO).
"We have initiatives like 100 Go Digital where we educate the ecosystem on the latest digitalisation information as we continue to digitally empower businesses.
“Recently, we announced the #SMART automation grant for services industry as part of the government’s Penaja initiative to support SMEs to take the digital leap in this new norm,” he said in a statement today after a webinar entitled “Can Digitalisation Save Your Business?”.
He said MDEC’s efforts were necessary as many SMEs were looking at digital platforms to overcome their challenges that might negatively impact their operations and income generation.
As the agency noted, the Finance Ministry estimated that 2 million jobs or approximately 8 percent of the workforce are at risk by the end of the year. The dismal numbers reveal that the economy has been severely crippled by the after-effects of the MCO.
The Department of Statistics also reported that 53.4 percent of businesses will only survive for one to two more months if they opt to pay staff anywhere from half to full salaries.
To address this, the Penjana offered hope through its various allocations, with RM35 billion in initiatives to stimulate the economy.
Technology, Selangor Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) head Chua Wen-Shyan who was also in the webinar panel said the primary focus should be on developing people.
"People or talent are the greatest assets in your company. Motivate them, upskill them with the necessary skills to promote innovation and development within your company to achieve a sustainable digital transformation.
“What we do at SHRDC is to design high impact programmes relevant to the different industries. Each company may require a unique digitalisation roadmap as there is no one size fit all," he said.
Meanwhile, Plus Solar Systems Sdn Bhd chief technology officer and co-founder Ryan Oh said the push for digitalisation prompted the company to develop smart energy solutions to help businesses save on the bottom line and turn business insights into valuable intelligence that could translate into better business decisions.
“This certainly shows that many businesses are looking at diverse ways to trim the bottom line with energy consumption being one major concern,” he added.
- Bernama
