Malaysian tech firms invited to apply for digital grants

The window in now open for applications for the Malaysia Digital Acceleration Grant (MDAG) 2023, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has announced.

The funding is designed to help companies in the digital sector enhance their operations through the continued utilisation of technology, foster innovation within the country’s digital ecosystem and generate more jobs.

“MDAG aims to drive the growth of digital and technology companies in the commercialisation stage that hold the Malaysia Digital (MD) status. This grant aligns with the MD national strategic initiative, which focuses on attracting investments and creating high-value job opportunities, ultimately achieving the nation’s digital economic aspirations and positioning Malaysia as the digital hub of ASEAN,” MDEC said.

It added that the grants, guided by the Malaysia Digital Investment Strategy, are anticipated to create more technology companies at the regional level over the next three years.

Since its inception in 2022, the MDAG grant has benefitted 35 companies. Interested applicants must hold the MD status to be eligible for the grant. Successful MDAG grant recipients will be announced within two of the application deadline, which is 28 July 2023.

MDEC is tasked with making RM1 billion ($230 million) worth of digital investments from nine sectors by 2025.

The government agency has identified tourism, agriculture, cities, content, finance, trade, services, health and the Islamic digital economy as sectors for investment.

“The R1 billion worth of investment opportunities are expected to be generated through these promoted sectors by 2025, led by the public-private sector and industry collaborations,” said MDEC Chief Executive Officer Mahadhir Aziz. “We aim to achieve this through several strategic interventions.”

He said the agency is making strategic investments into each of the promoted sectors via the allocated budget on digital economy to accelerate their growth and development.

Collectively, he said the government has allocated a total of RM238 million ($53.63 million) in investment into these nine sectors through MDEC.

“We are investing heavily on industry development such as digital infrastructure, education, and providing our workforce with the skills they need to succeed in the digital economy,” he said.

He also noted RM45 million ($10.14 million) from the total investment will be used to enhance various technology enablers, such as blockchain, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and more.

For further information about the grants available visit https://mdec.my/grants/mdag

 

Trade falls in June by 16.3%

Malaysia’s overall trade contracted 16.3% in June 2023 to RM222.14 billion compared to a year ago, as the value of shipments exchanged with its major trading partners continued to slide.

According to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), the fall-off in trade value was due to a 14.1% drop in exports to RM123.98 billion and 18.9% contraction in imports to RM98.16 billlion.

“The performance was similar to other regional markets notably China, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) which recorded negative trade growth for June 2023,” MITI said in a statement.

However, Malaysia’s trade surplus in June was 11.3% higher than in the same month in 2022 at RM25.81 billion.

MITI reported that the value of export was bolstered by strong demand for electrical and electronic (E&E) products, iron and steel products, metal ores and metal scrap, transport equipment and processed food.

For the second quarter of 2023, trade was down 11.3% year-on-year to RM643.22 billion, with the value of exports falling 11.1% to RM348.68 billion, imports dropping 11.5% to RM294.54 billion and the trade surplus shrinking by 8.8% to RM54.14 billion.

This brought the country’s year-to-date trade value 4.6% lower year-on-year to RM1.29 trillion and the trade surplus down 3.6% to RM118.52 billion.

Malaysia’s trade with its major trading partners were all down for the month of June.

Shipments to the country’s biggest trading partner, China, were down 8% to RM16.78 billion in June due to fewer exports of LNG and palm oil and palm oil-based products.

Exports to Asean countries also fell, by 8.5% year-on-year, to RM37.71 billion while exports to the US declined 19% year-on-year to RM13.64 billion.

Total imports in June dropped 18.9% year-on-year in June to RM98.16 billion.