MSC Malaysia’s ‘best year ever’
By Digital News Asia May 16, 2012
- Revenue up 16%, exports up 9%
- Growth attributed to a number of factors
THE Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) said that the MSC Malaysia’s (Multimedia Super Corridor project) 2011 performance was its best to date, showing strong growth and exceeding its targets.
MSC Malaysia revenue came in at RM31.7 billion, up 16% from 2010, while exports grew to RM10.12 billion, a 9% rise from the previous year, MDeC said in a statement. It contributed RM9.6 billion to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) against a projected target of RM8.7 billion, a 25% increase from 2010. [RM1 = US$0.32].
MDeC, the country's ICT custodian in charge of the MSC Malaysia intiiative, also claimed that 7,602 jobs were created against a target of 5,464, representing a 7% growth, bringing the total number of jobs created in MSC Malaysia since 2007 to 119,138.
“In the area of GDP contribution, MSC Malaysia contributed 1.12% to the nation’s GDP, which reflected a growth from the previous year,” said Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, MDeC chief executive officer (pic).
The Infotech cluster at MSC Malaysia accounted for nearly half the revenue with a total of RM15.4 billion while the Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO) cluster was responsible for RM9.1 billion. The Creative Multimedia cluster registered revenue of RM6.1 billion while Institutes of Higher Learning and Incubators accounted for RM1.1 billion.
Investments into MSC Malaysia also saw significant growth of 69.2% over 2010, at RM2.5 billion. In terms of distribution, 63% of this was Domestic Direct Investment while 37% was Foreign Direct Investment, MDeC said.
Badlisham attributed the strong showing to a combination of factors including MSC Malaysia’s attractiveness as a destination for Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), the slew of new business opportunities created by advancing technology, and the maturing of the MSC Malaysia companies themselves.