Kuala Lumpur, 19 October 2016 – iPay88 Sdn Bhd (‘iPay88’) – Malaysia’s leading online payment gateway provider in Asia, today shares its recommendations and wish list in anticipation of Budget 2017.
Executive Director of iPay88, Chan Kok Long, says that the company Budget 2017 recommendations are focused on the eCommerce sector, and is based on iPay88’s participation as a member National eCommerce Consultative Committee (‘NeCC’) at the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap roundtable that was recently organized by the Ministry of Inter-national Trade and Industry (‘MITI’) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn. Bhd (‘MDeC’).
In Year 2015, eCommerce made up RM68 Billion of Malaysia’s GDP. It is projected to grow-ing at 10.8% CAGR to touch RM114 Billion in Year 2020.
However, this is not good enough and the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap is in-tended to double the eCommerce growth to 20.8% to touch a GDP of RM170 Billion by Year 2020.
- iPay88’s wish list for Budget 2017 is aligned to meeting the accelerated growth and initiatives as underlined under the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap, but with emphasis on “..the exemption of direct and indirect taxes for all eCommerce startups – as a specific move to reduce the cash outflows to sustain startups in the online ecosystem.”
- “Tax, is a big barrier to technology adoption especially for the eCommerce industry which relies on. iPay88 knows this all too well because we deal with thousands of eMerchants whose business transactions flow through our payment gateway systems. So, we hope that there will be a continued commitment and understanding from the government to lift non-tariff barriers if they are serious about making the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap work.”
- “Internet startups dominate the entrepreneurial ecosystem in eCommerce today, and the government can provide the best support by announcing immediate tax re-lief and exemption for this group of online businesses – which will be the impetus for the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap.”
- Greater push for B2B eCommerce: “The Malaysian government has envisioned Year 2017 to be the ‘The Year of the Internet Economy’. The vision for a cashless economy is also an opportunity for the B2B segment to move faster in embracing eCommerce. Reports show that 68% of B2B buyers area already purchasing goods online as Governments are coming online to meet their procurement needs.”
Some Background
Under the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap, 6 areas have been identified as supportive governance framework that focuses on interventions in 6 ‘thrust’ areas for eCommerce:-
- Acceleration of seller adoption of eCommerce
- Increase adoption of eProcurement by businesses
- Lifting of non-tariff barriers
- Realignment of existing economic incentives
- Making of strategic investments in selected eCommerce players
- Promotion of national brand to boost cross-border eCommerce.