KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): As Malaysia aspires to become a high-value-added economy and a net exporter of home-grown technologies and digital solutions, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz has his work cut out for him.

The digital economy is fast becoming one of the biggest contributors to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), already making up 22.6% of the nation’s economy. By 2025, it is expected to contribute as much as 25.5%, outperforming the traditional largest contributor to GDP — oil and gas.

The outbreak of Covid-19 saw accelerated adoption of digital technologies to ensure business continuity and overcome productivity restrictions. In fact, e-commerce income rose almost US$190 billion (about RM799.71 billion) in the first nine months of 2021, up 23% from the same period in 2020.

With the digital economy fundamentally reshaping industries and driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the country’s response and plans would have to be comprehensive and integrated, said Mahadhir.

Sustaining the momentum, however, requires extensive innovation, supportive government policies, stimulating incentives and a conducive ecosystem for digital entrepreneurship, he noted.

And as if establishing these conditions aren’t difficult enough, the country also has to grapple with the intense brain drain, digital divide and political uncertainties that could derail the nation’s aspirations to become a high-value-added economy and a net exporter of home-grown technologies.

Considering the challenges ahead, can MDEC deliver?  

Read more about it in the Jan 10 edition of DigitalEdge in The Edge Malaysia weekly.