KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 12): Lazada Malaysia has teamed up with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to support local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their products on its website in a bid to spur the nation’s digital-led economic recovery.

In conjunction with the upcoming Merdeka public holiday, the online shopping platform is featuring two campaigns called ‘Buy Malaysia’ and ‘Penjana Shop Malaysia Online’.

According to Lazada, the campaigns offer customers up to RM29 in credits and vouchers for Lazada wallet users, and RM8 in free shipping vouchers, in addition to discounts of up to 70% on products from popular local brands.

“With over 320,000 SMEs nationwide on our eCommerce marketplace and more than 200% increase in new local sellers onboarded within the first half of the year, Lazada has become the go-to destination for home-grown entrepreneurs to future-proof their businesses by going online.

“We are pleased to see that our efforts and commitment in supporting local businesses, through our stimulus programmes and Lazada University training, has helped to flatten their barriers of entry,” said Lazada Malaysia chief executive officer Leo Chow.

The ‘Penjana Shop Malaysia Online’ campaign will run now till Sept 30, while the ‘Buy Malaysia’ campaign runs till Dec 31.

Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi said: “This initiative is a follow-up to the pioneering partnership with Lazada last year that brought ‘Buy Malaysia’ onto a leading eCommerce marketplace, which resulted in an uplift of 3,800% in contribution from local sellers on the platform to the domestic economy. We are encouraged to further invest in empowering local sellers online through online shopping platforms such as Lazada.”

Meanwhile, MDEC CEO Surina Shukri said the initiative complements MDEC’s ongoing ‘Micro and SMEs (MSMEs) E-Commerce Campaign’, aimed at accelerating eCommerce adoption among local entrepreneurs.

“MDEC will continue our efforts to accelerate the digital leap for Malaysian businesses, and help them compete on equal footing with global brands within and beyond our national borders, as evidenced by cases of local brands expanding its footprint internationally via Lazada’s Sell-to-China programme,” Surina added.