KUALA LUMPUR: The e-commerce sector has seen significant growth in terms of contribution to the country’s economic growth, said International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.
Ahmad Maslan said data collected from the Statistics Department showed that e-commerce contribution to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) had increased to 6.1 per cent or 74.6 billion in 2016 compared to 5.9 per cent or 68.3 billion in 2015.
“To ensure the e-commerce sector continues to grow, the government has implemented the National E-Commerce Strategic Plan (NESR) Plan since Oct last year.
“This plan is set to double the e-commerce growth rate in Malaysia from 10.8 per cent in 2016 to 20.8 per cent by 2020.
“This growth rate will contribute more than 211 billion GDP values compared to the initial target set under the 11th Malaysia Plan of RM114 billion,” he said.
Ahmad Maslan was responding to a question from Rubiah Wang (BN-Kota Samarahan) who had asked the ministry to state the strategy to ensure that the country’s e-commerce sector would continue to grow and the performance level of the sector so far.