Hinrich Foundation unveils Malaysia Digital Trade report in Kuala Lumpur
Published 28 March 2019
Hinrich Foundation partnered with Malaysia Australia Business Council, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and AlphaBeta to launch a new report, titled “The Data Revolution: How Malaysia can capture the digital trade opportunity at home and abroad”, on March 20, 2019, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Around 110 participants attended the launch event at the Four Season Hotel. The report examines the current and potential impact of digital trade at home and quantifies the economic value of technological gains enabled by digital trade. It also recommends perceived concerns related to digital trade and how they can be addressed.
Malaysia’s Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Dato’ Sri Norazman Ayob, gave a keynote speech at the launch event. He emphasised on the government policies and private players role in promoting digital trade in the country. His speech was followed by a presentation by Dr Konstantin Matthies, Engagement Manager at AlphaBeta.
In the presentation, Matthies said that the economic value of digital trade-enabled benefits to the Malaysian economy is estimated to be worth US$5.6 billion, which is equivalent to 1.8 percent of its GDP.
According to the report, it is estimated that the value to Malaysia’s domestic sector could grow by more than 9-fold to reach US$51.6 billion by 2030.
Matthies emphasised on Malaysia’s digital exports during his presentation. According to him, digital exports account for about 3 percent of Malaysia’s total export value today, and this could grow by a massive 298 percent from today’s level to reach US$ 28.5 billion by 2030.
However, Malaysia’s limited trading commitments and local license requirements on telecommunications services, as well as its content and data restrictions, could impact data flows and undermine Malaysian companies and the country’s ability to capture the digital opportunity.
Matthies informative presentation was followed by a lively Q&A session.
Read more information on digital trade reports.
Related Article
© The Hinrich Foundation. See our website Terms and Conditions for our copyright and reprint policy. All statements of fact and the views, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s).