Malaysia’s trade-development agency MATRADE coordinated capability-building efforts involving approximately 300,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, with RM867 million in export sales generated through e-commerce platforms during 2021–2024. Bernama reported the figures on 20 February 2025 alongside comments by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz in parliament.
A four-year figure, reported in 2025
The sales amount covers the four-year period from 2021 to 2024. It is not a figure for February 2025, nor a statement that every business in the capability-building programme exported the same amount. The approximately 300,000 enterprises describe the reach of the reported capability-development efforts; the article does not supply a firm-by-firm distribution of export sales.
The minister linked digital skills to broader participation in the economy. He said the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint sought to equip smaller businesses with the skills needed to use digital tools. The reported sales provide a historical measure, while statements about future competitiveness describe the policy’s intended benefits.
Digital commitments in trade agreements
Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia had signed seven international trade agreements containing digitalisation commitments as of January 2025. He named the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the United Arab Emirates among them.
He described these commitments as a means of supporting trade in goods, services and data. Signing an agreement and obtaining a particular commercial benefit are different events: the report does not demonstrate that each smaller exporter had already received the same access, cost reduction or financing opportunity.
The measures described in the report
- RM867 million in e-commerce export sales over 2021–2024.
- Capability-building efforts involving approximately 300,000 smaller enterprises.
- Seven signed trade agreements with digitalisation commitments by January 2025.
- Policy emphasis on digital skills, productivity, financing access and workforce training.
The minister also acknowledged exposure to changing global trade and investment policies. He said the country would maintain openness to trade relationships while focusing on quality investment. These comments set out the government’s approach at the time of the parliamentary debate; they do not remove the commercial uncertainty faced by individual exporters.
For readers evaluating the numbers, the central distinction is between programme reach, accumulated export sales and future policy objectives. The underlying report gives a useful aggregate picture but does not establish an average export result for a typical participating enterprise.
Bernama’s parliamentary report is the source of the historical sales figures and the minister’s attributed comments.
