Budget 2020: MDEC to get RM10 million to improve e-commerce, social media

Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, has announced that RM10 million will be budgeted for the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to equip micro-digital entrepreneurs and technology experts in an effort to further improve e-Marketplaces and social media platforms.

This is part of the Government’s plan to build a digital society, and overall aim to accelerate the digital economy in Malaysia. A majority of micro-digital entrepreneurs in Malaysia, according to Lim, are made up of women and youths—a reported 100 of these entrepreneurs have managed to achieve a revenue of RM23 million in total, over a span of 6 months.

Complementing that is the Tanggungjawab Sosial Digital (DSR) initiative, which will encourage companies in the overall business sector to up-skill the future workforce with digital skills for segments of society that are needy. To incentivise this, contributions from the private sector towards DSR activities will be granted tax deductions.

It appears that a large part of the budget is being allocated towards further digitising the local economy, with authorities having a stated aim of acceleration the local digital economy. This includes building a digital infrastructure, digital applications, encouraging the growth of digital companies, and cultivating a digital-savvy society.

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