Facebook grows local investments to help M'sia's digital economy

Facebook Malaysia today celebrated the opening of its new expanded office space in Kuala Lumpur and announced new investments in local programes and partnerships to support business growth and community building.

Fast Forward Together is a strategic long-term initiative by Facebook to support Malaysia’s on-going efforts to progress in its digital focused economic development path.

As part of this commitment Facebook Malaysia will be focusing on programmes to help Malaysian businesses grow and transform both at home and abroad; enabling improved internet connectivity; and supporting community building efforts.

“The opening of Facebook Malaysia’s new expanded office in Malaysia reaffirms the nation’s commitment to ensure that our people are communicating and staying connected.

“In building a new Malaysia, we are on a mission to build, rebuild and reinforce our position as a nation of strength, integrity and commerce where prosperity is shared and growth is accelerated.

“We are committed to working with companies like Facebook to move forward our digital economy and help Malaysian businesses grow into global brands and to also continue to build a safe online environment for all people.

“I believe that Facebook Malaysia’s Fast Forward Together initiative will help support Malaysia’s efforts to progress in its digital economic development path,” said the PM, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad who officiated the opening of the new expanded Facebook Malaysia office.

Also present were key Government leaders; Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia and Tuan Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

“Facebook has been helping people to stay connected, sharing moments that matter to them, while building a base for businesses who want to go global in a strategic and cost effective manner.

“Social media platforms such as Facebook are important in connecting businesses, consumers and communities so that we can create a more connected world.

“This is a step forward in the work that is being done at the governmental level with private and public sector to grow and contribute towards a more vibrant national economy,” said Gobind.

“Malaysia is an important country to Facebook, contributing to our continued growth in Asia Pacific, where we see over 23 million Malaysians on our platform every month, connecting with family, friends, businesses, and communities.

“The country’s economy is in the midst of a societal and digital transformation, coupled with a tremendous push for industrial growth, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship.

“It is exciting to be a part of this, and we are investing in our partners, programmes, opportunities and people that are helping us create a positive impact in their communities,” said Nicole Tan, Country Director of Facebook Malaysia.

Facebook at the event, reaffirmed that it is committed to helping fast forward the country’s digital transformation through a three pronged effort:

Helping Malaysian businesses grow and transform both at home and abroad through digital skills building: Whether it’s small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or large conglomerates, there is still a strong entrepreneurial spirit driving business growth through traditional commerce channels.

Made by Malaysia, Loved by the World: Facebook in partnership with Matrade and AVANA has helped to empower more than 1,000 businesses across seven cities in Malaysia to equip them with the tools to export their products, arm them with digital online capabilities for growth beyond the Malaysian borders.

This first of its kind programme in ASEAN aims to continue engaging with another 1,000 businesses by end 2019, and we are excited to have DHL Express joining this effort.

We will continue to evaluate, learn and explore ways to further scale this program to reach more businesses.

Blueprint training: Facebook’s Blueprint offers free education to help entrepreneurs and marketers master marketing across Facebook’s family of apps and services. In Malaysia, 58% of our total course enrollments are taken by SMEs, with more than 51,000 people currently registered and learning with Blueprint.

We educate and inspire marketers to build for mobile through various programs and events. To date, we have engaged more than 3,000 industry partners, advertising and media agencies and brand marketers.

Developers Circle: We know every community has different requirements this is why we build programs that support education, innovation and community of our developers and startup community.

We know that if we support them with the skills and resources they need, they will build successfully for the future.

MDEC e-Usahawan program: provide coaching support to produce up to 100 Blueprint Associate Certified trainers in 2019. These trainers will further scale the training to micro entrepreneurs and young people across the country.

Continuing investments in the latest infrastructure and connectivity technology to unlock growth and opportunities for local businesses and communities.

Facebook in collaboration with a local service provider supported the Malaysian government’s efforts to further improve the country’s digital infrastructure with the first large-scale Terragraph market pilot launch in Georgetown, Penang.

The Terragraph network consists of 400 nodes installed throughout the heritage zone, connecting 100 businesses with broadband at fiber level speeds. The network also includes 50 public wifi locations, providing among the best public WiFi speeds globally which so far have been enjoyed by 10,000 users.

We are scaling Terragraph technology trial in Malaysia in collaboration with another local service provider which will include the provision of WiFi, fixed wireless access and smart city applications and services. This upcoming trial will take place in Cyberjaya.

Supporting community building and empower communities to come together in driving positive social impact through a safe, informed, inclusive and respectful platform.

Facebook Community Leadership Circle Programme: More than 1.4 billion people use Facebook Groups every month.

This programme was created to empower and support the Facebook community leaders who foster and strengthen these groups. We’re committed to launching the programme in Kuala Lumpur by end 2019.

We Think Digital: This programme offers digital literacy resources designed to help people think critically and share thoughtfully online and will be launched in Malaysia in 2019.

Why am I seeing This: We launched this programme just 2 weeks ago, aiming to help people to better understand and more easily control what they see from friends, Pages and Groups in News Feed.

NUR Alert: The first NUR alert we launched was in December 2016 on an 8-year-old girl. She was found thanks to a member of our Facebook community flagging her whereabouts to the Malaysian police.

Safety Check: Safety check has been activated during the flood incident in Penang and Malacca and during a building fire in Sabah, allowing people to assure and inform their loved ones on their safety.

Being highly engaged on social media platforms, Malaysians are actively building communities online to connect, share and help people. In Asia Pacific, nearly 60% of people on Facebook use Groups, making meaningful connections over common interests, shared passions and causes. A few powerful examples include:

Encik Daud Abdul Gadar, a fisherman in Miri who embraces the use of Facebook and WhatsApp to collaborate with a community of fishermen to improve daily catches by three times leading to better quality of life and keeping everyone safe from violent tides.

Yellow House who uses Facebook to gain public interest in promoting lower carbon footprint, helping the homeless to be financially independent by turning into tour guides for ‘Unseen Tours’ and drawing international volunteers who help her run the community group.

“We want people to continue making meaningful connections across Facebook’s family of apps and services. We are committed to explore more ways to support digital literacy and help build an informed community in Malaysia,” added Tan.