The Tech For Good Institute (TFGI), a non-profit think-tank founded by Grab, hosted its first national dialogue in Malaysia today. TFGI was recently established to advance research and dialogue around harnessing the promise of technology for an inclusive access to the digital economy in Southeast Asia. Findings specific to Malaysia from TFGI’s inaugural “Platform Economy: Southeast Asia’s Digital Growth Catalyst” report, produced in partnership with Bain & Company, were also presented at the virtual event.
The report highlights Malaysia’s digital infrastructure and high digital adoption by consumers as important foundations for further digital economy expansion. 67% of Malaysia’s population has digital access through mobile phone subscriptions and 83% of this group have adopted digital payments through mobile wallets. Malaysian consumers are also digitally savvy, with a large majority at 83% already making purchases online.
However, to further unlock the potential of Malaysia’s digital economy, more needs to be done to support local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to leveraging digital to improve business productivity and expand consumer reach, as well as to develop a robust tech ecosystem to help Malaysian start-ups seize global opportunities for venture capital funding and tap on tech talent. The report also calls for strong public-private collaboration to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy, including approaches to manage new economic and social changes, while continuing to facilitate innovation.
TFGI seeks to be the region’s thought-leadership platform for the public and private sector to jointly study, share expertise and discuss socio-economic trends driven by technology, in order to facilitate policy understanding and design in the digital age. This first national dialogue brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to discuss the impact and role of digital platforms in Malaysia, and how to jointly collaborate to fully harness the potential of Malaysia’s digital economy.
