KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) today reported a significant growth for MSC Performance for the year 2016. The results, which reflected the nation’s positive economy growth, recorded new investments of RM16.3 billion of which RM6.43 billion were from new investors; breaking the record for the second year in a row.
The reported amount from existing investors stood at RM9.84 billion which is a promising number despite today’s challenging economic landscape.
“We are very proud of the achievements last year. Our strategy to lead the Digital Economy is paying off and we have seen a positive, healthy year from MSC-status companies in Malaysia with record new investment and strong investment numbers from new investors” said Datuk’ Yasmin Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation.
Double-digit growth for export sales
Malaysia saw a steady increase in export sales from MSC companies with an 18 per cent growth from 2015, with a contribution of RM19.1bil. The Creative Content and Technology (CCT) cluster recorded the highest growth in export sales with a contribution of RM1.17bil to the total export sales in 2016.
“It is encouraging to see a positive growth across all clusters. Not only did the CCT cluster exceed the RM1bil mark, Infotech’s growth surpassed the Global Business Services (GBS) cluster with a 26 per cent growth, recording the highest contribution to growth yet,” said Yasmin.
MDEC continues to foster the globalisation of local companies through its GAIN programme. Through this programme, MDEC successfully connects local technology companies to the growth ecosystem by focusing on market growth, mentorship, funding and visibility. One of the companies that have benefitted from MDEC’s intervention is IX Telecom, a local establishment that provides service management to Fortune 500 companies in over 200 countries.
Export made up of 40 per cent out of the total revenue recorded, with Asia Pacific being the main export destination, followed by Europe. Additionally, local MSC companies recorded a 21 per cent increase in export sales.
Focus areas continues to grow significantly
Despite uncertain economic conditions, 2016 witnessed a tenfold increase in investments for niche focus areas since 2014. This includes focus areas like eCommerce, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud & Data Centre, Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Security. These focus areas contributed RM3.7bil to the total export sales last year, a 38 per cent growth from 2015.
“eCommerce saw the favourable growth last year which brings us a step closer towards our vision of doubling the eCommerce growth rate and reach a GDP contribution of RM211 billion by 2020. With the eCommerce roadmap in place, we believe that we can achieve this goal. MDEC surely is not sitting on our laurels; instead, we will continue to drive the numbers and grow nation’s economy through eCommerce.”
Up next for MDEC
With 2017 being dubbed the Year of the Internet Economy, MDEC will continue to drive a sustainable digital economy built upon a vibrant domestic IT industry. This will be done by adapting and diversifying MSC Malaysia Cybercentres, through the setting up of new Digital Hubs. Malaysia Digital Hub will act as a catalyst to build a robust startup ecosystem in the nation. It seeks to optimise locations to attract and maintain startup ecosystems with the necessary hard infrastructure offerings such as high speed broadband to enable growth of the internet economy.