Greater efforts to be important IT outsourcing hub

DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw calls on the Government to increase the efforts to make Malaysia an important Information Technology (IT) outsourcing hub. These should include the synergistic effort to develop nanotechnology especially with the National Nanotechnology Centre and Master Plan. Nano means one thousand millionth of metre.

On 22.10.2009, Dr Tan asked a supplementary question in parliament on the attraction of foreign investors that can help this country to be an IT outsourcing centre.

Answering the original question by His Honourable MP for Kulai Ong Ka Ting, His Honourable MP for Baram, Jacob Dungau, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, states that there are 2461 IT companies with Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status. The most recent to be given MSC status are 23 companies with investment of RM1.02billion, creating 4,425 jobs.

The Deputy Minister says that Malaysia is number three outsourcing centre after India and China in Asia. If this is recognized as such internationally, I hope we can keep this up.
The minister has not answered the inquiry on nanotechnology. He mentions 1,923 active IT companies out of 2,461 stated above, the rest remaining dormant. They provide 92,201 jobs, many of which are held byMalaysians. He would have to give details on the composition of IT workers.

We give insentives to bring investors to make this country an important hub. If these are less attractive than other countries, fewer will come to us. One major hindrance is bureaucracy. We should always take effective steps to get rid of the hindrance. We should look at the time it takes for leading countries to approve an application, making sure that Malaysian time is always competitive.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw