Budget 2017: Industry players laud 'digital economy' focus

Digital connectivity was among the elements that took centre stage in the Budget 2017 tabled by Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament on Friday.

The Prime Minister had highlighted that digital connectivity – a revolution in economic activity – has contributed nearly 16 percent to Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Below are some of the responses by industry players on the issue.

* Tervinderjit Singh, research vice president, Gartner Inc:

"In line with Gartner's predictions that by 2025, where every industry will be transformed by digital business, we are very supportive of the government's plan to introduce the first 'Digital Free Zone' in the world, where we anticipate the blurring of physical with virtual worlds. Gartner looks forward to seeing more details on this promising programme.

"With the initiatives announced in Budget 2017, Gartner is confident that Malaysia is on the right track to become a fully digitised Internet economy."

* Albert Chai, managing director, Cisco Malaysia:

"Cisco commends the government’s continued focus on digital economy, as demonstrated by some of the key measures tabled in the Malaysia’s Budget 2017. These measures will not only galvanize our economy through innovation and technology but also form the foundation of our country’s digital transformation.

"We look forward to the direction that Malaysia is taking and the new economic opportunities being realised from public and private partnerships, namely in the areas of infrastructure, talent and cybersecurity."

* Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC):

"The measures announced under Budget 2017 will definitely help us seize the opportunity in capitalising on the Internet 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, i.e. the initiative to identify and nurture young talents to be future digital innovators. It includes the move by the Education Ministry 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."

* Sanjay Rohatgi, senior vice president, Asia Pacific and Japan, Symantec:

"The National Budget 2017 looks at the government’s initiatives in accelerating growth and enhancing the wellbeing of the rakyat. The 2017 Budget is reflective of Malaysia’s rapidly-transforming Digital Economy.

"As more Malaysians embrace the Digital Economy via government initiatives such as eRezeki, eUsahawan and eCommerce, there needs to be an increased awareness on cybersecurity. We look forward to playing our part in the nation’s on-going cybersecurity development as Malaysians continue to embrace the Digital Economy."

* Nick Lim, vice president, ASEAN and Greater China, CA Technologies:

"The application economy has significantly raised customer expectations and is bringing disruption to every industry. Businesses can no longer continue with their status quo in order to own the customer experience.

"To succeed and leapfrog their competitions in this digital era, it is imperative for businesses to integrate software into all aspects of their operations and embrace digital transformation.

"We believe that the targeted business and digital incentives under Budget 2017 will further boost the engines of economic growth for Malaysia."

* Zainal Abidin Jalil, group managing director, DNeX:

"In Malaysia, the backbone of the trade eco-system is the National Single Window (NSW) for Trade Facilitation, a single window system that allows Customs-related electronic transactions and duty payments, and electronic document transfer between members of the trading community.

"With such a system, the trading community can save time and cost, gain competitive edge, improve efficiency and productivity, and at the end of the day improve their bottom line.

"We are also hopeful that measures outlined in the 2017 Budget Speech such as the development of an e-commerce eco-system and Digital Free Zone can further bring innovation in this area and contribute to ease of doing business for the country and ultimately the whole economy."