Taiwan’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry should consider investing in Malaysia, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday in a report examining the Southeast Asian nation’s new economic policies outlined in “Budget 2020,” which Malaysian Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng (林冠英) unveiled earlier this month.
In a bid to attract foreign investments and boost Malaysia’s manufacturing and service sectors, Kuala Lumpur has allocated 1 billion ringgit (US$238.81 million) per year for the next five years as rewards for companies in the high-tech, manufacturing, innovation and other new economic domains, PwC said.
This represents a great opportunity for Taiwanese ICT companies to enter the country, PwC partner Alan Chien (簡汎亞) said, citing Malaysia’s demand for talent in digital transformation, information and communications, as well as automation and manufacturing.
Malaysia has also extended its already wide range of tax breaks and allowances to relocating firms and pioneer companies, including those in the high-tech, biotech, research and development, and specialized manufacturing industries, PwC said.
In addition, the Malaysian government has set up a national committee on investments in an effort to simplify and accelerate the processing of foreign companies’ investment applications, the report said.
Basic infrastructure has become one of Malaysia’s focal points, as the treasury has devoted a substantial part of the government budget to improve and expand its traffic system and transportation networks.
Malaysia ranked 15th on the ease of doing business index published by the World Bank this year, Chien said.
Companies expanding to Malaysia’s five major economic corridors — Iskandar Malaysia, Northern Corridor Economic Region, East Coast Economic Region, Sabah Development Corridor and Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy — or other less-developed areas would also benefit from a 100 percent income tax exemption, the report said.
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