Microsoft Malaysia has issued a statement on the 2016 Budget, calling it “another step forward in paving the way for Malaysia to become a knowledge-based high-income nation by 2020.” In line with the Budget, Microsoft will continuously focus on providing inclusive education, enabling businesses and empowering people to do more.
Empowering the future
Out of the RM267.2billion total allocation, the Government is investing RM41.3billion on education – the third largest allocation in the Budget.
“Education is the foundation of any nation. Shaping the minds of our future generation with a sound education system is vital, as the future well-being of a country lies with the younger generation. Microsoft believes the positive impact technology has on inclusive education, and will continue to support the Malaysian Government with initiatives such as #WeSpeakCode and ImagineCup, towards building a high income, knowledge-based economy. We will continue to drive human capital development with the Ministry of Education, whom we have had a strong and solid partnership with for over a decade,” said K Raman, managing director of Microsoft Malaysia.
Nurturing entrepreneurs, spurring growth
The Government is investing RM35million in the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) to further promote the country as a regional entrepreneurship and innovation hub. Additionally, RM30million is allocated for creating and strengthening young entrepreneurs’ programs.
It is clear that SMEs play an essential role in building the nation’s economy. SMEs make up to 97.3% of all businesses, which contributes to 33.1% of the nation’s GDP and 57.5% of employment.
SMEs are expected to contribute 41% of the nation’s GDP by 2020. Microsoft feels the allocation is an opportunity for SMEs to move forward using innovative and advance solutions. Transformative initiatives like the Cloud Solutions Providers (CSP) Program can help organisations build and grow profitable cloud service businesses.
Internet for all
Lastly, Microsoft also welcomed the Government’s commitment to bring Internet access to all – investing RM1.2billion to increase speeds in rural areas from 5Mbps to 20Mbps. Read more about it here.
Microsoft has worked with the Malaysian government for over 20 years, and has been a trusted nation-building partner.
