The 8th edition of the e-Conomy Southeast Asia (SEA) report says Malaysia has made significant progress in digital inclusion.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s digital economy can reach its full potential of US$30 billion (RM139.09 billion) gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025, according to the eighth edition of the e-Conomy Southeast Asia (SEA) report.
The report was jointly released by the US multinational technology company Google, Singaporean GLIC Temasek and global consultancy company Bain and Company.
In a joint statement today, the companies said the report revealed that Malaysia has made significant progress in digital inclusion, extending connectivity to rural areas to bridge connectivity gaps.
“The percentage of households with internet access has increased from 76% to 97% in urban areas and from 49% to 89% in rural areas between 2015 and 2022,” they said.
However, they said consumers outside of metropolitan areas are at risk of facing a widening digital economic divide in terms of digital participation, which is the active involvement in the digital economy through the consumption of products or services across sectors.
Nevertheless, they said high-value users (HVUs) in Malaysia spent 5.3 times the amount that non-HVUs spend online of which, more than half of HVUs reside outside of metropolitan areas, demonstrating that opportunities for digital businesses to grow exist beyond metros such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
They said in comparison, over 70% of digital economy transaction values in Southeast Asia were generated by the top 30% of spenders.
“Bridging the digital participation divide is the collective responsibility of all digital economy stakeholders.
“Removing barriers, such as supply and security issues, can improve the participation of non-HVUs and enable Malaysia’s digital economy to reach its full potential of US$30 billion GMV by 2025,” it added.
GMV refers to the total value of goods or services sold.
