Comments from Microsoft Malaysia's CFO on the 2009 Budget

Vijay Bala, Microsoft Malaysia’s Chief Financial Officer

Microsoft Malaysia is heartened to note the continuous emphasis placed on the well being of the rakyat and, in particular, in strengthening human capital initiatives to empower the rakyat to master knowledge and skills so essential in today’s globalised economy. It’s also a timely announcement ahead of Merdeka Day and signifies our country’s progress toward being a fully-fledged k-economy.

The sums allocated for the enhancement of training and skills programme (RM2.4 billion), improving the quality of education (RM31 billion) and the expansion of the PINTAR programme will go a long way toward nurturing Malaysia’s next generation of leaders. We applaud the government’s efforts and aspirations through the initiatives outlined to upgrade human capital through education and training, from Primary School to Institutes of Higher Learning. Certainly, the "up-skilling" of teachers and students for more enriching learning experience in teaching methods and skills assessment bodes well for Malaysia’s next generation; that is in building present and future Malaysian talents for the New World.

We are also heartened with the emphasis on creating a “Culture of Excellence” and the 1% reduction in individual income tax to encourage the number of professionals serving in Malaysia. We are very pleased that the government is encouraging the private sector to recognise the contributions of high performing employees and, hence, the tax exemption on excellent service awards relating to innovation and productivity. At Microsoft Malaysia, we have a value of recruiting and retaining the very best professionals the industry has to offer and this initiative will hopefully encourage other Malaysian companies to get the best productivity levels from their employees.

The accelerated capital allowances for local companies to claim ICT equipment in one year (instead of the previous every two years) serves to encourage more companies to invest in the latest technologies such as Unified Communications and mobility technologies, which would ultimately result in better productivity and operational efficiencies. This is a very positive step forward for local businesses as technology is all about empowerment – tools to bring out the best ideas and innovations and which further encourages automation for a broad set of industries such as manufacturing.

Microsoft Malaysia will continue to help where we can to ensure our beloved country fulfils our goal of being a fully-fledged knowledge-economy. The initiatives outlined within Budget 2009 will certainly help us to continue “Malaysianising Microsoft” and in aligning our investments, activities and initiatives with that of the government agenda and objectives. Along the way, we are hopeful we will continue playing our part, hand-in-hand with the Malaysian Government, to continue nurturing ‘first class mentality’ to create a Malaysian culture of producing and conditioning knowledge.