DirectD and JCL Team Up to Expand Smartphone Accessibility in Malaysia and Advance Circular, Low-Carbon Practices – Laotian Times

Strategic Partnership Report: DirectD and JCL Advance Sustainable Development Goals in Malaysia

Executive Summary

A strategic partnership was announced on November 24, 2025, between DirectD, a major Malaysian smartphone retailer, and JCL Credit Leasing, a financial services group headquartered in Tokyo. The collaboration is structured to enhance digital accessibility and promote environmental responsibility, aligning directly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The core mission is to remove barriers to device ownership for all segments of Malaysian society while embedding circular-economy principles to reduce electronic waste and carbon emissions.

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Advancing Socio-Economic Inclusion and Equality

The partnership’s primary focus on expanding access to technology directly supports several key SDGs related to human development and economic opportunity.

• SDG 1 (No Poverty) & SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): By providing access to smartphones, the initiative empowers individuals with essential tools for income generation, business transactions, and participation in the digital economy.
• SDG 4 (Quality Education): Increased access to reliable devices facilitates online learning and access to educational resources for students.
• SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): The program specifically targets underserved communities, aiming to bridge the digital divide and ensure more equitable access to technology and information.

Operational Strategy for Inclusion

1. Offering flexible and accessible financing options for owning, subscribing, or upgrading high-quality devices.
2. Prioritizing the needs of underserved communities to foster greater participation in the digital economy.
3. Establishing a clear target to deliver 30,000 devices to these communities through the partnership in 2026.

Promoting Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action

A central pillar of the collaboration is the integration of a circular economic model, which contributes to environmental protection goals.

• SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): The initiative promotes sustainable consumption patterns by extending the lifecycle of electronic devices through reuse and refurbishment, and responsibly managing end-of-life products.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): By keeping devices in use longer and reducing waste, the partnership aims to lower lifecycle carbon emissions and reduce its Scope 3 emissions, contributing to broader climate goals.

Operational Strategy for Circularity

1. Facilitating a trade-in program where customers can exchange eligible devices for value towards new ones.
2. Diverting traded-in devices to certified partners for comprehensive testing and refurbishment, preparing them for redeployment.
3. Ensuring that non-recoverable units are processed through responsible recycling channels to minimize e-waste.

Collaborative Framework for the Goals (SDG 17)

Leveraging Synergies for Sustainable Impact

This partnership exemplifies SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), demonstrating how collaboration between different sectors can accelerate progress on sustainable development.

• DirectD utilizes its extensive retail footprint across Malaysia and its experience in device trade-in and upgrade programs.
• JCL applies its expertise in creating inclusive and transparent consumer finance solutions to make technology affordable.

Together, they aim to create a model that supports both individual productivity and collective environmental responsibility, demonstrating a scalable approach to achieving the SDGs.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The article highlights the partnership’s aim to “boost productivity across work” and enable more Malaysians to “participate in the digital economy.” By providing access to smartphones, which are described as an “essential tool that powers income, learning, business transaction, and daily life,” the initiative supports economic growth and productivity for individuals.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  The core of the initiative is to expand “accessibility to quality smartphones nationwide” and promote “digital inclusion.” This directly relates to building resilient infrastructure and increasing access to information and communications technology (ICT), which is a key component of SDG 9.

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

  The partnership explicitly aims to “embed circular-economy principles to reduce e-waste.” This is achieved through trade-in programs, where devices are refurbished to “extend lifecycles” or “responsibly recycled.” This focus on reuse, refurbishment, and recycling is central to achieving sustainable consumption and production patterns.

• SDG 13: Climate Action

  The article mentions that the circular economy model is designed to reduce “lifecycle carbon emissions” and that extending the life of devices helps in “reducing our Scope 3 emissions.” This demonstrates a direct effort to combat climate change and its impacts at a corporate level.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The entire article is about a “strategic partnership” between two private sector entities, DirectD and JCL Credit Leasing. This collaboration between a retailer and a financial services group to achieve social and environmental goals (digital inclusion and sustainability) is a clear example of a partnership for the goals.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 8.10: “Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all.”

  The partnership involves JCL, a financial services group, providing “flexible financing” and “consumer-finance expertise” on “transparent and manageable terms.” This expands access to financial products (credit/leasing) that enable device ownership, particularly for “underserved communities.”

• Target 9.c: “Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet.”

  The initiative’s primary goal is to “expand accessibility to quality smartphones nationwide” and “remove key barriers to device ownership.” By providing affordable options, especially for underserved communities, it directly contributes to increasing access to ICT.

• Target 12.5: “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.”

  The article details a “circularity initiative” where devices are traded in, refurbished, and redeployed to “extend lifecycles” (reuse). It also states that “non-recoverable units are responsibly recycled to reduce e-waste,” directly addressing the principles of waste reduction, recycling, and reuse.

• Target 13.2: “Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.”

  While this target is at a national level, the corporate actions described in the article reflect its principles. DirectD’s effort to reduce “lifecycle carbon emissions” and “Scope 3 emissions” represents the integration of climate change measures into its business strategy and operations.

• Target 17.17: “Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships.”

  The collaboration between DirectD and JCL is a private-private partnership aimed at achieving sustainable development objectives. It leverages the “consumer-finance expertise” of JCL and the “nationwide footprint” of DirectD to achieve shared goals of digital inclusion and environmental responsibility.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Explicit Indicator:

  The article provides a clear, quantifiable indicator for measuring progress towards digital inclusion for underserved communities. It states that DirectD “aims to deliver 30,000 devices to underserved communities through the partnership with JCL in 2026.” This number serves as a direct measure of the initiative’s reach.

• Implied Indicators:

  The article implies several other ways to measure progress, even without providing specific numbers:

  1. Number of devices refurbished and redeployed: Progress towards Target 12.5 can be measured by tracking how many devices are successfully given a second life through the “testing and refurbishment” process mentioned.
  2. Volume of e-waste recycled: The commitment to responsibly recycle “non-recoverable units” implies that the volume or weight of e-waste processed could be used as an indicator for Target 12.5.
  3. Reduction in carbon emissions: The mention of reducing “lifecycle carbon emissions” and “Scope 3 emissions” suggests that a quantifiable reduction (e.g., in tonnes of CO2 equivalent) could be used as an indicator for Target 13.2.
  4. Number of customers using financing options: The success of expanding access under Target 8.10 could be measured by the number of customers, particularly from “underserved communities,” who utilize the “flexible financing” options provided by JCL.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: laotiantimes.com