By Edwin Yapp
Monday, May 14 2007 05:07 PM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62012937,00.htm

KUALA LUMPUR--Discussions at this week's 10th Multimedia Super Corridor International Advisory Panel (MSCIAP) meeting are expected to center on key policy issues that may have significant ramifications to the country's ICT industry.

The annual discussion comprising industry representatives from notable ICT companies, academicians and think-tanks, is scheduled to take place on May 17 to May 19 in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital. Since its inception in 1997, the MSCIAP discussions have provided counsel to the government in shaping the growth of the high-tech hub MSC Malaysia and the country's ICT industry.

This year, delegates at the meeting are expected to deliberate on a range of topics that include how the MSC can further help produce homegrown companies that can export their products and services overseas, and the creation of a right knowledge infrastructure and talent development to drive the national ICT initiative.

Themed "Taking MSC Malaysia Global: Developing knowledge infrastructure and creating talent", the meeting this week will focus on how to develop MSC-status local companies into global icons, said Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which oversees the development of the MSC. As of March 2007, some 1,300 local companies have been granted MSC-status, allowing such organizations--which also include multinational corporations (MNCs)--to receive a set of incentives and benefits from the Malaysian government when they participate in ICT initiatives.

"We will have a strategy brainstorming session with IAP members aimed at obtaining their inputs, ideas and suggestions on MSC Malaysia's strategy and the way forward," he said in an e-mail interview. "We hope the IAP members will be able to provide input to assist in policy formulation and provide direction for [the country's] future of ICT."

At the last MSCIAP held in the northern state of Penang in 2005, Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi acknowledged the need to make the MSC more attractive in light of the growing global competition in the ICT industry. He identified three strategic areas--shared services, creative content and biotechnology--as key priorities going forward.

The MSCIAP meeting was postponed last year because the MDeC said it wanted the meeting--typically held in September--to be moved to May to coincide with World Congress on IT 2008, which Malaysia will host next year.

The MSC and its custodian MDeC also went through a major re-branding exercise to revitalize the high-tech hub and make it more responsive to the country's ICT community. The MDeC had also appointed Badlisham, the former country general manager for Hewlett-Packard's technology solution group, as its new CEO.

No show, no impact
According to Nazrin Hassan, executive director of Technopreneur Association of Malaysia (TeAM), the "no-show" last year had not greatly impacted local ICT players.

"The MSCIAP is a great platform for an exchange of thoughts and opinions, and may be said to be a great showcase event which highlights the MSC's presence on the world map," Nazrin said in an e-mail interview. "But in the short-run, the MSCIAP plays very little role in impacting local ICT technopreneurs."

He added that the re-branding was a necessary exercise as there was "much cynicism surrounding the old organization", formerly known as MDC, and that "even industry players would not have given it a second look" if the re-branding initiative had not taken place.

"Under Badlisham, we've seen a lot more new blood and industry practitioners and former entrepreneurs being absorbed into the MDeC," Nazrin said. "This has boosted the perception of the organization as the MDeC is now seen to be more consultative, more willing to be criticized, and faster on its feet in responding to industry needs."

He also welcomed the MDeC's move to focus its discussions on helping local ICT players export their products, but cautioned against expecting too much. "Exporting one's technology products and service offerings is not a simple issue," he said. "It takes a lot of work and financial resources from technopreneurs and a successful gestation period of between one and three years."

One way, Nazrin suggested, could be to enlist MNCs to assist local companies in introducing and marketing potential technology innovations, and promote Malaysian technology products and services overseas.

Linus Lai, research director of emerging markets at IDC, said Malaysia has the skills necessary to compete with its competitors, and that the MDeC's focus on talent creation is a good move.

"Malaysian companies need to find their niche as we need not go down the same route as India did with software development, which took them a long time to succeed," Lai told ZDNet Asia.

"Malaysia has other skills such as business and accounting skills, and one way is to concentrate on industries such as the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector, which some local companies have succeeded in going regional."

Edwin Yapp is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.