BDI's R1.5b must be catalyst, not a wastage

New Straits Times

13-05-2025

LETTERS: The RM1.5 billion Business Digitalisation Initiative (BDI) by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) stands as a transformative opportunity to propel Malaysia's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) into the digital era.
However, for this ambitious investment to truly create a digitised society and deliver long-term national benefits, it must be executed in an organised and systematic business manner.
Malaysia's MSMEs are vital to the nation's economy, yet over 60 per cent remain at a basic level of digital adoption, with most lacking advanced technological integration.
While the BDI's scale and intent are commendable, simply distributing funds or focusing on technology adoption for its own sake risks inefficiency and wasted potential.
A technology-first approach, without clear business objectives, often leads to operational silos and mismatched solutions that do not address the real challenges MSMEs face-market access, customer acquisition, and sustainable revenue growth.
Technology should not be seen as an end goal, but as an enabler of business transformation.
Its true value emerges when it is embedded within comprehensive business strategies that solve pressing problems and unlock new opportunities.
For MSMEs, this means leveraging digital tools to streamline operations, meet customer expectations, and integrate into broader supply chains-delivering on time, at optimal cost, and with high quality.
Many digitalisation efforts focus on surface-level solutions like e-commerce platforms or online marketing, often overlooking the fundamentals of business process improvement and capacity building.
When digital initiatives are driven by technical features rather than actual business needs, MSMEs risk adopting systems that look advanced but fail to generate meaningful impact.
To ensure the RM1.5 billion achieves its intended outcomes, the grant must be administered through a phased, business-centric framework, with the following core components identified:
Phase 1: Diagnostics and Targeting: Conduct nationwide assessments to identify MSMEs' core challenges, especially in customer acquisition and market access.
Target strategic sectors and map out process improvements, capacity building, and regulatory barriers that hinder MSME participation in larger supply chains.
Phase 2: Tailored Digital Solutions: Allocate funding only where MSMEs have clearly defined business challenges that digital solutions can address.
Enhance grant mechanisms to support meaningful participation in digital marketplaces, including customer support, social media integration, and B2B supply chain systems.
Phase 3: Measured, Scalable Implementation: Roll out sector-specific, incremental digital adoption based on MSME needs.
Establish robust monitoring systems to track not just adoption rates, but actual business outcomes-growth, productivity, and competitiveness.
The BDI's strength lies in its "whole-of-nation" approach, leveraging public-private partnerships with financial institutions, digital banks, P2P lenders, and local service providers.
This collaborative model ensures MSMEs have access to comprehensive support-funding, digital tools, and capacity-building initiatives-tailored to their transformation journey.
Accountability is crucial. Every ringgit must be tied to measurable improvements in business growth, market access, and long-term competitiveness.
Transparent metrics and ongoing evaluation will ensure the initiative remains focused on real outcomes, not just digital adoption statistics.
A blanket, unsystematic approach to digitalisation risks squandering resources and missing the opportunity for real economic transformation, Malaysia is always known for this kind of wastages.
Thus, the BDI must be more than a subsidy scheme; it must be a catalyst for sustainable, inclusive growth.
By deploying the RM1.5 billion in a structured, business-driven manner, Malaysia can empower its MSMEs to thrive in the digital economy and lay the foundation for a truly digitised society-one where technology serves as a powerful enabler of prosperity for all.
In summary, the RM1.5 billion grant must be managed with discipline, guided by business needs, and anchored in accountability.
Only then can it deliver the long-term vision of a dynamic, competitive, and digitised Malaysia.
Managing Director