Page 343 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 2

STS497 Hasnah M. et al.

The insights of e-commerce in Malaysia
Hasnah Mat, Norul Anisa Abu Safran, Mazreha Ya’akub
Department of Statistics Malaysia

Abstract
E-commerce is a medium or platform of buying and selling goods and services
over the Internet. This mechanism is widely used by all economics activities in
Malaysia where it is transform the traditional way of doing business. One of
the components in boosting of e-commerce growth is improvement of ICT
infrastructure. Anticipating the importance ICT used and e-commerce growth
and its contributions to the economy, Department of Statistics, Malaysia
(DOSM) took the initiative to embark on the surveys regarding the Usage of
ICT and E-Commerce by Establishment (ICTEC) and ICT Use and Access by
individuals and Household survey (ICTHS) to obtain the required statistics.
Therefore, this paper aims to share the findings of the surveys and the
compilation of e-commerce in Malaysia. Income on e-commerce transactions
recorded RM447.8 billion with annual growth rate 6.0 per cent while
expenditure on e-commerce was RM228.8 billion with annual growth rate 8.3
per cent. Percentage of individuals using Internet increased by 9.0 percentage
points from 71.1 per cent in 2015 to record 80.1 per cent in 2017 while for
establishment it is increased 11.8 percentage point from 61.5 per cent in 2015
to 73.3 per cent in 2017. Statistics pertaining to ICT used and e-commerce has
been included in this paper. This result was in tandem with the target of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 9 to build the resilient
infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster
innovation. Apparently, Malaysia has improved on the ICT infrastructure
especially on the access and development of information and communications
technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the
Internet.

Keywords
ICT, e-commerce, SDGs

1. Introduction
Technological infrastructure is the key strength of e-commerce industry.
Information and communication technologies are playing a vital role in
improving e-commerce practices in Malaysia (Muhammad Jehangir et al,
2011). The authors pointed out the strong ICTs and IT infrastructure are
enhancing e-commerce capabilities in Malaysia.The increasing rate of internet

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