Budget 2017 will help Malaysia capitalise on Internet Economy

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KUCHING: The measures announced under Budget 2017 will help Malaysia seize the opportunity in capitalising on the Internet Economy, says Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

MDEC’s chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Yasmin Mahmood highlighted that a key driver to the economy in the years to come will be in the area of digital economy.

“Our forecast reveals that we need one million digital workers, such as coders, application developers and software engineers, by 2025.

“We are pleased for the support for Digital Maker Movement, which is the initiative to identify and nurture young talents to be future digital innovators.

“It includes the move by Ministry of Education to incorporate computational thinking and computer science in schools from January next year, and private sector and academia support to further nurture these bright young talents,” she said.

A total of RM162 million has been allocated to MDEC for programmes such as e-commerce ecosystem and Digital Maker Movement as well as the introduction of a new category called the Malaysia Digital Hub.

“Budget 2017 also offers the start-up community the much needed support of an ecosystem that suits the nature of their business.

“With the implementation of Malaysia Digital Hubs, they can now enjoy the full benefits of the MSC Bill of Guarantees, including tax incentives.

“In tandem with growing the local start-up community in Malaysia, efforts to attract Foreign Knowledge Tech Entrepreneurs to Malaysia will definitely catalyse the nation’s growth,” said Yasmin.

MDEC also welcomes the allocation of RM1 billion to increase the coverage and quality of broadband to Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as well as the decision to double the broadband speed at half the price in two years’ time,  as this shows the government’s appreciation of faster digital connectivity at an affordable price within today’s digital economy.

Aside from that, the eRezeki and eUsahawan initiatives, which were launched last year to target key communities such as youth, SMEs, digital entrepreneurs and the B40, with an initial allocation of RM100 million, has benefitted over 100,000 Malaysians.

MDEC expects more people to benefit in the coming years as the government has allocated RM100 million for these programmes so MDEC would be able to drive these initiatives further and encourage greater cross collaboration to support our nation’s digital inclusion programmes.

“We will also be the first country in the world to introduce the Digital Free Trade Zone. For the first time, the world will have a physical and virtual zones with additional online and digital services to facilitate international eCommerce and invigorate internet based-innovation,” said

Yasmin.

She concluded, “With these measures, we look set to make the most out of the Internet Economy next year; and take a step closer to becoming a fully sustainable developed digital economy nation.”