What industry captains say...
THIS rakyat-centric budget outlined initiatives to leverage the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the digital economy, underscoring its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product. Along with the recent announcement of “cloud first” strategy, and creation of a national artificial intelligence framework, these are steps in the right direction to bolster the country’s strategic ICT thrust.
WITH further reduction in individual income tax rates and income-generating initiatives announced through 2018 Budget, we hope it would spur spending leading to higher consumption growth for the people. The multiplier effect from higher spending will inherently lead to higher economic activity, contributing towards higher government revenue next year, whether through the Goods and Services Tax or corporate and income taxes.
ALL the programmes and additional funds allocated to the micro entrepreneurs’ development are set to boost the development and growth of entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, micro enterprises generally lack in-house expertise and suffer from human resource deficiency. Various studies found that small business enterprises’ growth is influenced by management abilities.
FROM an international perspective, the government has reaffirmed its commitment to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) plan of action. The BEPS plan arose as a response to what was considered an inappropriate use of double taxation agreements and cross-border transactions to achieve favourable tax positions. There are 15 action plans under the BEPS umbrella.
THESE are exciting times for players in the e-commerce space as the government has included the digital economy in the TN50 industrial revolution plan. Tracing the successes of more developed e-commerce in countries such as Taiwan and Singapore, Malaysia’s digital sector is at the brink of accelerated growth and we believe the investments announced would be a key catalyst to maximise the full potential of the futuristic economy.