MSC Malaysia reports strong 2014 revenue growth

PETALING JAYA: MSC Malaysia, the country's premier ICT initiative, generated RM38.52 billion in revenue last year, a growth of 11% from 2013.
"MSC Malaysia has seen a solid performance and consistent growth in 2014, showing the measurable and sustained benefits of the initiative," Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood said in a statement yesterday.
MSC Malaysia saw RM20.09 billion in new investments in 2014, of which 55% came from direct domestic investments and 45% via foreign direct investments.
Of the new investments, RM17.16 billion were from current investors while RM2.93 billion were from new investors.
Export sales accounted for a total of RM13.73 billion, representing an 11% increase from 2013, in a year that also saw a 7% rise in employment with 9,497 net jobs created.
In total 229 new companies were awarded MSC Malaysia status in 2014, bringing the total to 3,632 companies.
"Overall MSC Malaysia contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) reached RM13.77 billion, a 14% increase from 2013. MSC Malaysia's revenue now accounts for a substantial 1.3% of GDP," it said.
In 2015, MDeC said it will refocus and realign its efforts to strengthen MSC Malaysia's industry development.
New avenues of industry will also be developed focusing on big data analytics, e-commerce and the internet of things, offering massive growth potential.
"To move Malaysia up the value chain, it is essential to create more Malaysian global heroes - and for this to happen, MDeC is committed to helping these companies with market access to export their products to the global market" Yasmin said.
Meanwhile, MDeC said the creative multimedia cluster (CMC) increased to 436 companies in 2014.
The new media sub-sector grew 44.6%, showing average revenue per company growth of 28%. TV, film and visual effects still account for 90% of CMC revenue, with successes like The Journey; Malaysia's highest grossing film by Astro Shaw, an MSC status company.
The InfoTech Cluster saw the highest number of new companies, up from 2,539 in 2013 to 2,665 in 2014.
The banking, financial services and insurance sub-sectors recorded the highest growth of 66%, doubling its revenue from RM671 million in 2013 to RM1.1 billion in 2014, boosted by strong performances from companies such as Infopro and Aetins.
Global Business Services not only drove export sales revenue more than any other cluster, it also maintained Malaysia's top three position at AT Kearney Global Locations Index for the 11th consecutive year.
The cluster benefited from growth in knowledge process outsourcing, showing a 34% export increase year-on-year, and continues to grow global partnerships.
MDeC said all clusters continued to perform strongly, with the highest revenue reported by InfoTech.
"While the numbers speak for themselves, we are also proud of MSC Malaysia's milestones, building strong international partnerships and developing the knowledge of our country's ICT workers" said Yasmin.