NEWS: What MDeC, Pikom want in Budget 2010

PETALING JAYA: Ahead of the tabling of the 2010 Budget by the Government tomorrow, the Multimedia Development Corp is hoping for measures that are friendly to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

MDeC, the custodian of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative, said incentives are much needed to encourage SMEs to invest in ICT (information and communications technology) so that the nation can benefit from having more vibrant and efficient businesses.

Its chief executive officer, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, told In.Tech that more than 90% of Malaysian businesses are SMEs, and that the “digital divide” in the group is very clear. The divide refers to technology haves and have-nots.

“Now is the time that SMEs must invest in ICT to help them increase their profits,” he said. “A simple example is the use of the Internet as a channel to reach the global market.”

Malaysian businesses shouldn’t sell themselves short by sticking solely with the local marketplace; they should maximise on their business potential by expanding internationally, he added.

Another benefit from SMEs embracing technology is that there will be an increased demand in the country for ICT solutions and services, which will help boost Malaysia’s ICT industry further.

“There are more than 2,000 MSC Malaysia-status companies, developing and improving on world-class ICT solutions and services, which can support our SMEs,” Badlisham said.

Let’s get going

Like MDeC, the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) also wants more incentives to help drive the adoption of ICT among SMEs.

Pikom chairman Wei Chuan Beng said a tax deduction on IT expenditure will encourage the companies to start investing in ICT, which will improve business productivity.

Large numbers of SMEs in other developing countries are already investing in ICT and are reaping the benefits; Malaysian companies will lag if they don’t start soon, he said.

Pikom is also hoping that the 2010 Budget will include incentives to drive PC adoption among Malaysians.

According to Wei, 35% of households have PCs now but in other countries, this has already reached the 75% mark.

He said the association is lobbying for the revival of a scheme that enabled Malaysians to buy computers using part of their savings in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

The scheme, implemented in 2000, was stopped two years later when it was discovered that some people were abusing the initiative to buy new cars, big-screen TVs or pocket the cash instead.

Wei believes that only a few shortsighted Malaysians abused the scheme, whereas most were encouraged by it to own computers and experience the Internet.

If the scheme were to be revived, Pikom said it should be properly and diligently monitored to prevent such abuse. “And it shouldn’t be limited to the purchase of computers,” Wei said.

“The scheme should be expanded to cover smartphones and other digital devices. Computers aren’t the only Information Age products that people should be using these days,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will table the 2010 Budget tomorrow afternoon.

The MSC Malaysia initiative is aimed at building up the nation’s knowledge-based economy.