MEDIA STATEMENT IDEAS: Malaysia should strengthen digital trade ecosystem,

For immediate release MEDIA STATEMENT IDEAS: Malaysia should strengthen digital trade ecosystem, emphasising digital economy tax, cross-border data flows, data protection, and cybersecurity Kuala Lumpur, 7 December 2022 - The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) supported by the Australian High Commission Malaysia, launched the policy report titled “Strengthening the Digital Trade. [...] The authors examined how Malaysia has attempted to bring its taxation framework up to date with the digital economy through direct and indirect taxation, as well as how Malaysia overcomes challenges to data governance and creating the requisite culture of cybersecurity to match a positive technology-adoption outlook. [...] This included the lack of harmonisation of data protection laws, the fact that SMEs may not be able to afford heavy cybersecurity costs, the difficulty of implementing the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), and finally the absence of mandatory data breach notification requirements, whether to the government or for data users or data subjects. [...] Juita Mohamad, Director of Research and Director of Economics and Business at IDEAS, points out that, “As one of the biggest concerns in Malaysia is the planning and introduction of new forms of taxes for the digital economy and digital trade activities, it is important that impact assessments of such measures take into account feedback and input from the stakeholders affected. [...] Juita adds, “When it comes to cybersecurity, one of our policy recommendations is for Malaysia to use Digital Economic Agreements (DEAs) and Digital Free Trade Zones to further build a rules-based environment for cyber and digital taxation frameworks and to ensure Malaysia’s national interests are protected and its industries promoted.” The policy report is now available on IDEAS website.