M’sia needs integrated policy on SME digitalization

The government and the World Bank have acknowledged that Malaysia needs an integrated policy and institutional support framework in digitalising small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 

政府和世界银行已经认识到，马来西亚在中小企业数字化方面需要一个综合的政策和制度支持框架。

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the government also recognised the need to reform the digitalisation agenda by further strengthening monitoring and evaluation to improve the government’s support programmes and address talent shortages, among others.  

首相部（经济）部长Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed表示，政府还认识到需要通过进一步加强监测和评估来改革数字化议程，以改善政府的支持计划并解决人才短缺等问题。

“The integration of various policies and coordination among different ministries and agencies will be key in this agenda to further unlock the potential of the digital economy.

“整合各种政策以及不同部委和机构之间的协调将是这一议程的关键，以进一步释放数字经济的潜力。

“The Economic Planning Unit and MyDigital Corporation will be supporting the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council, chaired by the prime minister, to deliver our goals of successful digital technology adoption and a robust digital economy.

“经济规划部门和MyDigital公司将支持由总理担任主席的国家数字经济和4IR委员会，以实现我们成功采用数字技术和建立强大数字经济的目标。

“This will bring us closer to the target of being a high-income nation by 2025,” said Mustapa in his opening remarks when launching the World Bank’s Digitilising SMEs To Boost Competitiveness report on 6th October. 

“这将使我们更接近到2025年成为高收入国家的目标，”Mustapa在10月6日发布世界银行《中小企业数字化以提高竞争力》报告时说。

Mustapa said the report would help in implementing the MyDigital blueprint and provide vital inputs toward the country’s goal to transform SMEs as the government conducts the mid-term review of the 12th Malaysia Plan in the next couple of weeks.

Mustapa表示，该报告将有助于实施MyDigital蓝图，并为该国实现中小企业转型的目标提供重要投入，因为政府将在未来几周内对第12个马来西亚计划进行中期审查。

“We take note of the gaps identified by the World Bank such as the risk of overlaps across a number of government support programmes.

“我们注意到世界银行发现的差距，例如一些政府支持项目重叠的风险。

“On the regulatory front, there is a need to strengthen safeguards for users with increased data protection, have more robust legislation on cybersecurity, have laws on competition that better reflect the dynamism of the digital economy and address the limitation of the current open data framework,” said the minister. 

“在监管方面，有必要加强对用户的保障，加强数据保护，制定更强有力的网络安全立法，制定更好地反映数字经济活力的竞争法律，并解决当前开放数据框架的局限性，”部长说。

He further said the government has already started addressing some of the report’s recommendations and more reforms are on the way such as robust protection of personal data.

他进一步表示，政府已经开始处理该报告的一些建议，并且正在进行更多的改革，例如对个人数据的有力保护。

This is to instil greater confidence of users in the digital economy, with a view to further facilitating SME’s involvement in the digital economy, he said. 

他说，这是为了给用户灌输对数字经济更大的信心，以进一步促进中小企业参与数字经济。

Meanwhile, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, Ndiame Diop, in his remarks during the launch of the report, said while the Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digital economy trend, the depth and breadth of SME digitalisation, however, has remained limited, suggesting a growing risk of a digital divide in the country. 

与此同时，世界银行文莱、马来西亚、菲律宾和泰国国家主任Ndiame Diop在报告发布期间发表讲话时表示，虽然Covid-19大流行进一步加速了数字经济趋势，但中小企业数字化的深度和广度仍然有限，这表明该国数字鸿沟的风险越来越大。

“The key finding of the report suggests that while Malaysian SMEs are enthusiastic about digital technology, their capacity to make the most of these digital tools remains limited. 

“该报告的主要发现表明，虽然马来西亚中小企业对数字技术充满热情，但他们充分利用这些数字工具的能力仍然有限。

 “The acceleration of digital technology uptake among SMEs that we saw during the pandemic was mostly for customer-facing functions such as sales and marketing,” said Diop.

“我们在大流行期间看到的中小企业对数字技术的加速采用主要是针对客户的职能，如销售和营销，”Diop说。

He added that this was in contrast with large firms that were able to invest more into advanced business functions such as supply chain management and production planning.

他补充说，这与能够更多地投资于供应链管理和生产计划等高级业务功能的大型公司形成鲜明对比。