Just on the heels of the ‘live’ launch of the world’s first Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) in Malaysia, Fusionex has announced that it is leading a consortium to provide the e-services platform. This will be powered by Big Data technologies. The DFTZ e-Services Platform is a trade facilitation platform that is integrated with other business service platforms and government service platforms, to facilitate a paperless, end-to-end and accurate data capture, data storage, data exchange and data analytics process, in respect of the high growth in internet trade activities.
The DFTZ will facilitate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and merchants to capitalize on the internet community as well as the e-marketplace via a huge borderless addressable market. At the same time, these cost benefits and efficiencies inadvertently trickle down to consumers who would stand to enjoy faster, efficient and more cost-effective products and fulfillment.
The aim of the DFTZ is to capitalize on the convergence and exponential growth of the internet economy and cross-border e-commerce activities, by facilitating cross-border trade and enabling businesses to import and export goods with a priority for e-commerce.
“The DFTZ is a first of its kind digital hub that brings together a multitude of key parties including trade facilitation players, e-marketplace players, government agencies, logistics providers, freight forwarders, and of course, SMEs. The state-of-the-art e-Services platform is powered by, amongst others, Big Data technologies and Machine Learning that will facilitate trade and allow transactions to take place faster, more cost effectively, more reliably and more efficiently,” said Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, Fusionex Group CEO.
To achieve this goal, the DFTZ will help businesses including SMEs expedite the transportation of goods regionally. For Phase 1, the DFTZ will set aside a section of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Aeropolis for storage space and logistics facilities. This will then expand to other sites in subsequent phases.
Giving businesses access to the international market will result in a growing trend of orders and trades fueled by businesses not being confined to specific locations and time zones. The Prime Minister also highlighted that the DFTZ will create 60,000 new jobs and boost exports by SMEs to US$38 billion (MYR160 billion) by 2025.
The DFTZ is also expected to generate a huge amount of online transactions of orders, trade movements, payments, and more, coming in and going out of the country and region, hence the need for the platform to be powered by Big Data technologies.