By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
SHAH ALAM, March 14 — The Smart City and Digital Economy Convention (SDEC) 2022, one of the Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS) components, recorded a total potential transaction value of RM50 million in 2022.
State executive councillor for industry and trade Dato’ Teng Chang Khim said that the exhibition space, organised by the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), opened up opportunities for trade and investment between the attendees and exhibitors of the annual event.
“Sidec had organised the seventh edition of the SDEC last year and it was a packed four-day convention with two main tracks — the smart city track and the digital economy track.
“The Asian Smart City Conference: Mayors Summit is one of the largest conferences planned by Sidec, which brings together mayors and representatives from different cities from around the world to share their knowledge, experiences and approaches to addressing challenges in urban liveability through smart technology.
“A total of 11 cities, including from six countries, have participated, such as Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Australia,” said Teng in answering a question by Bandar Utama state representative Jamaliah Jamaluddin on the Sidec’s performance and report card during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting, here today.
He said among the featured events under the smart city track include the Asia Smart Cities Conference, Net Zero and Circular Economy Forum, and Technology Expo. The digital economy track consists of Selangor SME Digitalisation Conference, Selangor Fashion Accelerator (Demo Day), Live Stream Festival and technology exhibition.
SIBS 2022, which is one of the major annual events in Selangor, recorded impressively last year with RM1.45 billion in potential negotiated sales compared to RM217.6 million in 2021.
Meanwhile, Teng said Sidec had contributed RM334.37 million to the state economy through e-commerce and digitalisation activities since 2015.
He said some of the achievements and programmes recorded by the state subsidiary are as follows:
- Selangor e-Commerce Onboarding Programme
In 2022, 100 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) started their business online through webstore platforms (Shopee, Lazada dan Youbeli) and their own e-commerce websites.
The programme helps entrepreneurs launch their businesses online through a webstore or website and offers comprehensive assistance to SMEs in digitalising their businesses.
- Selangor E-Commerce Education Programme
In 2022, 8,053 participants attended 25 classes held over three months in the programme that provides skilling, upskilling and reskilling for traders venturing into e-commerce for the first time. The figure surpassed the initial target of 1,000 physical and 5,000 online participants, an increase of 34.2 per cent.
- Top E-Commerce Merchant (Top ECM) Awards 2022 (seventh edition)
The awards, which have run for seven consecutive years, achieved total sales of RM58.9 million and 427,643 orders. The event also recorded the highest number of applications in 2022 at 440. The prestigious award aims to reward the most successful, creative and innovative local e-commerce merchants.
- Selangor Accelerator Programme (SAP)
SAP 2022 contributed RM15 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) with each company having a value between RM500,000 to RM1 million. Several SAP 2022 alumni also received a total of RM4 million in funding from a number of investors and venture capitalists. In the Fifith Cohort, the programme supported 150 startups from 2018 to 2022, with 36.6 per cent of them able to secure funding. The programme aims to support innovative technology companies (startups) in Selangor that have viable business strategies and marketable products.
