KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has handed out more than RM5 million to 45 recipients of four grant programmes.
MDEC chairman Datuk Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff said the agency has given a total of RM5,524,896.00 to the recipients of the Global Technology Grant, Digital Content Creators Challenge, Digital Content Grant, and the #SMART Automation Grant.
He said the disbursement also signalled that MDEC’s new grant framework is now “completed and fully operational”.
“These disbursements to SMEs and mid-tier companies across multiple industries will accelerate digital adoption and digital creative content, further driving the positive trajectory of the country’s digital economy,” he said in a statement last night.
“The new grant framework will also allow the agency to provide adequate funding to the right recipients with an emphasis on governance, transparency, and speed.”
The chairman explained that the #SMART Automation Grant is a “matching grant” that helps small and medium-sized enterprises in the services industry, primarily those in retail, wholesale, food and beverage, tourism, and logistics, to enhance and improve their businesses via digital tools.
Rais said the Digital Content Creators Challenge, formerly known as IPCC and DICE, is a platform for local digital content companies.
The challenge, it said, covered animation, video games, and digital comics for creators to hone their creativity and accelerate the development and commercialisation of digital content.
MDEC said its Digital Content Grant is an initiative under the Malaysian government’s Penjana Economy Recovery Plan.
The agency said that the plan is designed and created to support local digital content companies in the development and marketing of their content.
“In 2020, when MDEC undertook its ‘Reinvent’ mission, I understood that a new grant evaluation and approval framework that focuses on rewarding rightful recipients without sacrificing governance, transparency, and integrity was needed to further advance the digital economy,” Rais said, adding that the new grant framework builds on MDEC's Input-Output-Outcome-Impact model.
“These grants are executed with ease of access and transparency in mind – all the information for our grants are made public through the mainstream media and our social media, ensuring that we cover everyone from Perlis to Sabah. What matters is the know-how, not the know-who.”
Two of the grants have been recently launched for this year. The Global Technology Grant 2021 opened for submission on August 26 and closes on September 15. Applicants can find more information at www.mdec.my/gtg.
The #SMART Automation Grant 2021 opened for submissions on August 26 and has a four-week deadline. Rais said applicants can register and check their eligibility criteria at mdec.my/sag. – The Vibes, September 2, 2021
