KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Internet business is still nascent, compared to other countries like the USA or those in Europe, where e-commerce has made headway and is a full fledge industry on its own.

Most experts who spoke to Malay Mail on the subject agree the country’s e-commerce sector is still in its infancy, but the blame is not on the app developers or the banking institutions alone.

The culprits, some say, are the mistrust that the buyers have towards the usage of their personal data on e-commerce websites.

But what are the authorities doing to help develop this potentially lucrative industry in the country?

There are a few companies pushing hard to rally more internet users to try their e-commerce modules, by either buying on their sites or by offering platforms and engines that allows local internet shops to generate larger online sales.

In 2012, the national security agency, CyberSecurity Malaysia and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry introduced the Malaysia Trustmark for Private Sector (MTPS) certificate protocol to e-commerce merchants and operators in Malaysia.

The aim was to create trust in local e-commerce portals that would offer the certificate as part of their e-commerce programme.

The move was to further support the exponential growth of e-commerce and the ICT industry in Malaysia.

It also attempted to deal with the issues of ‘trust’ and ‘reliability’ of e-commerce transactions.

The order of the day is that when organisations participate in MTPS, Cyber Security will conduct an assessment of their e-commerce websites and transaction.

Once they go through the process, these firms will be awarded with the Malaysia Trustmark Certification.

Cyber Security said the Malaysian government introduced the certification as a way of validating web security control of an organisation’s website that is involved in e-business or e-commerce activities.

It also improved the competitiveness of Malaysian merchants in the global market by conforming to the highest security standards to prevent fraud and other online illegal activities.

To improve online purchases will also depend on the personal touch of the online sellers. It will depend on whether the sellers will go as far as offering their products on their own web portals, or they will follow the trends in a social media based shop online.

Rakuten Malaysia’s president Masay Ueno indicated Malaysia’s Internet retailing sales figure is bound to reach RM1.9 billion by 2016. It was RM842 million in 2011. Though massive is the improvement on the sales figure, the fact remains the Malaysians are still biting their tongues when it comes to online shopping.

The tools, apps and resources that are now available to entrepreneurs have made it easier than ever to bootstrap a business with minimal overheads and initial investment.

The question, however, is still in the mindset of the online surfers. Will they trust local e-commerce sites, and deliver a boost in the local online industry, which is a boom in the waiting?