ICT to contribute RM42b by end-2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's 2,088 information, communications and technology (ICT) companies are

forecast to contribute RM42 billion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by end-2015 under the

third and final phase (2011-2020) of Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) plan. The RM42 billion is

a 22 per cent increase from RM34.5 billion contributed under the second phase (2004-2010). MSC Malaysia is the national ICT initiative to position the country as one of the world's ICT hubs by attracting local and international companies from various ICT disciplines under the care of the government-owned Multimedia

Development Corp (MDeC). MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said under Phase Three, ICT companies are expected to swell fivefold to over 10,000 companies, revenue to increase by 37 per cent to RM142 billion, exports to rise 75 per cent to RM58 billion and job creation to grow to 47 per cent to 160,000. Badlisham said based on its first two phases, MSC Malaysia will see even bigger success under Phase Three due to the numerous opportunities which the digital world willl offer. "The ICT sector will be one of the many key enablers in championing the development of Malaysia's high-value economy. "The sector will accelerate Malaysia's transformation into a high income and high-value economy," Badlisham told reporters at a media briefing here yesterday. He said other core initiatives under Phase Three include the establishment of two new Cybercities each year and complementing the innovative digital framework by the second half of this year. Currently, there are 12 fully operational cybercities and cybercentres in the Klang Valley and seven fully operational cybercities and cybercentres in the states. Out of the 2,088 ICT companies, 1,605 are local, 424 foreign-owned and 59 joint ventures. Some of the new key initiatives include new focus on market access, development of a strong ecosystem for intellectual property creation and commercialisation and the rollout of more e-government value-added services. There will also be great focus on the infusion of ICT across all sectors of the economy, especially among SMEs (small and medium enterprises) agriculture and retail, which have yet to fully tap onto the potential of the advantages which ICT brings.

By Zaidi Isham Ismail

xydee@nstp.com.my

2011/04/21

Source;

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/MDETHI/MDETHI.pdf