Kindly attribute to: Hana Raja, Managing Director, Cisco Malaysia
At Cisco, we laud the government’s refreshed Budget 2023 announcement as it acknowledges the role technology will play in the development of the nation’s goals. With the initiatives put forward today, we are excited to see Malaysians adapt to these new priorities that will boost the economy, which includes enhancing the small-and-medium enterprises (SME) sector, more funding towards research & development, cybersecurity, green technology, and skilling.
Strengthening enterprise resilience and innovation
Despite economic headwinds, Malaysia’s digital economy is expected to grow with the potential of contributing 25.5% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. We see this to be largely contributed by the SMEs, a segment that is often more resource-constrained.
The RM10 billion loan funds that is to be provided through Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to ease financial burdens of SMEs and support business expansion, the allocations of RM428 million to carry out research and development (R&D) activities under the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, and RM50 million in grants to encourage automation in other sectors will greatly enable businesses to build resilience and open new channels for growth for Malaysia businesses in the digital age, particularly as the cyber threat landscape evolves.
We are delighted to see the newly announced incentives that will enable SMEs to progress in their innovative and digital capabilities to leverage emerging technologies such as 5G, automation, and machine learning. Leveraging these allocations and subscription-based IT services offered by technology companies such as Cisco will open new channels for SMEs’ digital maturity and foster innovation in Malaysia.
Moreover, as hybrid work takes off, businesses need to ensure that they upgrade their IT and cybersecurity infrastructure to thrive and remain competitive. These announcements will certainly be a boon to the 96% of security leaders that we surveyed in 2022 that expect upgrades to their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months1.
We are committed to continue working with the Malaysia government through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme to turn its digital economy blueprint into reality by leading the development of core 5G technologies and infrastructure, accelerating the digital transformation of SMEs, and nurturing a pipeline of next-generation IT talent.
Strengthening cybersecurity and advancing climate goals
As Malaysia is poised to be amongst the region’s top digital economies, there is a critical need to strengthen cyber resilience for all businesses and organizations and advance its climate goals. Public-private collaborations in these spaces are essential in catalysing sustainable development and the industry players can play a critical role to support the policies through action.
On the cybersecurity front, digital transformation must go hand in hand with cyber resilience. We laud the government on providing RM10 million for the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) to address the rising rate of cybercrimes accordingly. Creating a safer digital ecosystem will bolster the confidence of consumers, businesses, and investors in the digital economy and gear up Malaysia for the digital leap.
The expanded allocation around green technology has been much anticipated alongside Malaysia’s 2050 carbon-neutrality commitment. We are heartened that the government is extending plans to meet these ambitions including RM2 billion to support sustainable technology in startups, as well as help them implement low carbon practices. Data from Accenture and World Economic Forum shows, scaling digital technologies in the energy, materials and mobility industries can potentially deliver up to 20% of the 2050 reduction needed to hit the net-zero goal.
As a trusted technology partner to Malaysia’s public and private sectors, we look forward to working with businesses and organizations in Malaysia to decarbonize operations, invest in energy-efficient technologies and embed the principle of circularity into our business models. We anticipate positive developments in the improvement of the Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS) with the guaranteed value increased to RM3 billion until 2025.
Closing the tech talent and skills gap
Real transformation only happens when we have the right people with us. Malaysia has long recognised the need to equip its people with the right skillsets in building a future-ready workforce. This is especially true here where IT remains one of the fastest-growing sectors.
We look forward to seeing more training and career development initiatives specific to digital skills as announced through the allocation of RM50 million to improve the employability of future workforces that will benefit over 8,000 trainers. Through Cisco Networking Academy – our ongoing skills-to-job program to equip students key technology skills including cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, we partner with learning institutions including University Malaya and Universiti Teknologi Mara in Malaysia and have trained close to 130,000 students since inception. In the next decade, we aim to equip 140,000 Malaysians with digital skills for in-demand jobs to address the digital skill gaps.
Overall, we are delighted that the new 2023 Budget is committed to advancing Malaysia’s transformation and progress while laying the crucial groundwork for economic growth and recovery. We look forward to supporting the nation to achieve a prosperous future, fulfilling the potential of the people and the country alongside the Malaysia Madani vision.
