Sarawak partners Alibaba Cloud to bolster digitalisation of SMEs

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The Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) has partnered Alibaba’s cloud computing subsidiary, Alibaba Cloud, to provide support for the digitalisation of SMEs in Sarawak. SDEC is a company owned by the Sarawak Government through the State Financial Secretary under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Through this collaboration, SDEC will leverage on the public cloud service of Alibaba Cloud, especially on the advanced features like elastic computing, big data and AI.

SDEC said the partnership comes at an opportune time as Malaysia works towards the Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) launched in February earlier this year. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin launched MyDIGITAL to make Malaysia a high-value-added economy and a net exporter of home-grown technologies and digital solutions by the end of this decade.

SMEs that are currently using SDEC’s cloud platform SDeCloud will be able to choose solutions and products provided by Alibaba Cloud, said the company. It also added that by maximising Alibaba Cloud’s proven technology, local SMEs could “achieve business agility, elasticity and scalability in a better way and optimise the cost for IT management”.

With experience in digital transformation and expertise in different industries, Alibaba Cloud will also help SDEC in terms of enhancing its impact and the reach of the corporation’s larger initiative to fast track the digitalisation programmes in Sarawak. A+M has reached out to Alibaba Cloud for additional comments on the partnership.

CEO of SDEC, Sudarnoto Osman, said that SDEC’s vision is to accelerate economic prosperity through digitalisation. “As a state-linked company, we need to synergise our efforts with all stakeholders towards accelerating the adoption of digitalisation amongst local SMEs.” said Sudarnoto. He also added that Alibaba Cloud’s robust cloud infrastructure and comprehensive suite of public cloud solutions especially in the areas of internet, e-commerce, retail, and fintech industries will help support SMEs on their digital journey.

Jordy Cao, GM of Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said that Alibaba Cloud believes cloud computing technology can act as a catalyst for inclusive innovation. “With our cutting-edge technology and commitment to Malaysia, we look forward to working with SDEC to transform the state and take it to greater heights as well as supporting local SMEs to better serve the people of Sarawak,” added Cao.

On a similar note, Alibaba Cloud is also investing approximately US$1 million in hopes of cultivating digital talent and empowering the growth of 100,000 technology startups in Asia Pacific over the next three years. In partnership with Handsprofit, the cloud company plans to build its first international innovation centre, offering Malaysian SMEs, startups and developers a one-stop innovation enablement platform.

Last week, the MDEC launched its Go-eCommerce Onboarding and Shop Malaysia Online campaigns as part of the Belanjawan 2021 (National Budget) initiatives in line with MyDIGITAL. On the increased budget allocation to help facilitate local businesses to go digital and online, CEO of MDEC Surina Shukri said that it would help ensure that they are able to future-proof against potential aftershocks.

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