Symantec對2008年財政預算案的回應

Budget 2008 Commentary CM Woon, General Manager, MalaysiaSymantec Corporation

Symantec’s opinion on Budget 2008

· The Government has been steadfast in their emphasis on accelerating ICT adoption and development in the country. Symantec applauds the Government’s commitment towards the growth of the local ICT sector. We are confident that it will support the country’s thrust to move the economy up the value chain and raise the capacity for knowledge, innovation and nurture first-class mentality.

Significant ICT-related incentives

· Each and every incentive outlined in the broad budget measures will contribute towards enhanced competitiveness and economic prosperity for the entire nation.

· Where ICT-related initiatives are concerned, the Government’s commitment in reducing the digital divide, increasing broadband penetration rate to 50% by 2010 as well as providing incentives to the SMBs will significantly leapfrog the local ICT industry to the next level. These incentives, coupled with effective public-private partnership as outlined in the Budget will enable better access to ICT, promote the development of skills and talents, and eventually build a competitive knowledge society.

Areas that the budget could have addressed

· As the Government continues to narrow the digital divide and deepen the broadband penetration rate in Malaysia, increasing numbers of businesses, homes and individuals will be connected to the digital world, changing the way the nation interacts and driving organizations to embrace more online collaboration and information sharing.

· In view of this, it is vital to build confidence in the connected world and continue to ensure that the Internet is exciting for both enterprises and consumers. The Budget could empower this hand-in-hand with the broadband push by addressing the need for information security awareness and education, as well as encouraging implementation of solutions that will help the nation protect not only our digital assets, but also infrastructure and interactions.

· In addition, the Government should also emphasize the shaping and enhancing of public policy and legislation with regards to consumer privacy, cyber security and intellectual property protection. This is critical as we expect the increase of international investment and collaboration driven by MSC.

Opportunities for Symantec

· There are certainly opportunities for Symantec as an infrastructure software provider to help businesses and consumers in Malaysia to address and mitigate security risks, availability challenges, compliance and performance. In view of the measures to boost the ICT sector and bridge the digital divide, we expect to see growth in key verticals such as the public sector, financial services institutions, telecommunications and SMBs.

· A stronger collaboration between the government and private sectors is imperative, considering the private sector has been identified as the engine of economic development. Similar partnerships can be extended to promote cyber security education and awareness campaigns. Initiative such as the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-terrorism (IMPACT) taskforce which Symantec is involved in is a positive public-private partnership to bring governments and leading companies together in the fight against all forms of cyber threats. Symantec is committed and ready to drive such initiatives with the Government to build a secure, resilient infrastructure to protect individuals and businesses from today and tomorrow’s online attacks.