novaMSC Bhd was awarded the MSC status on 29 October 2002...

Overview of the MSC

Malaysia is a nation whose growth has been carefully shaped and guided by strategic five-year development master plans. Providing the ultimate backdrop to these programmes is Vision 2020, a national agenda that sets out specific goals and objectives for long-term development.

Vision 2020 is an optimistic, yet realistic, aspiration, which draws upon past achievements and embodies the collective hopes of the Malaysian people.

The chief architect of this vision is Malaysia's Prime Minister of 18 years, Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Malaysians have responded robustly to his challenge to become a fully developed, matured and knowledge-rich society by year 2020.

As a strategy to achieve the vision, Malaysia has embarked on an ambitious plan to leapfrog into the Information Age by providing intellectual and strategic leadership. This means investing in an environment that encourages innovation, helping companies, both Malaysian and international, to reach new technology frontiers, partnering global IT players and providing the opportunities for mutual enrichment and success.

Welcoming the Information Age

Malaysia welcomes the advent of the Information Age with its promise of a new world order where information, ideas, people, goods and services move across borders in the most cost-effective and liberal ways.

As traditional boundaries disappear, and as companies, capital, consumers, communications and cultures become truly global, new approaches and attitudes to business are required.

Malaysia upholds the virtues of the new world order, believing that the globe is collectively moving towards a "century of the world", a century of world-wide peace and shared prosperity among nations.

Malaysia has chosen to be open and pragmatic in dealing with change, and is committed to working with other world citizens to encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

What is MSC Status?

MSC Status is the recognition awarded by the Govt. Of Malaysia through Multimedia Development Corporation for companies that participate and undertake its ICT activities in the MSC.Companies with MSC Status are entitled to enjoy a set of incentives and benefits from the Govt. of Malaysia, which is backed by a 10 Bill of Guarantee.

The 10 Bill of Guarantees

Under the Malaysian Government's Bill of Guarantees, any company granted the 'MSC-Status' enjoys several financial and non-financial incentives. The Government of Malaysia commits to:

• Provide a world-class physical and information infrastructure.
• Allow unrestricted employment of local and foreign knowledge workers.
• Ensure freedom of ownership by exempting companies with MSC Status from local ownership requirements.
• Give the freedom to source capital globally for MSC infrastructure, and the right to borrow funds globally.
• Provide competitive financial incentives, including no income tax for up to 10 years or an investment tax allowance, and no duties on import of multimedia equipment.
• Become a regional leader in intellectual property protection and cyberlaws.
• Ensure no Internet censorship.
• Provide globally competitive telecommunications tariffs.
• Tender key MSC infrastructure contracts to leading companies willing to use the MSC as their regional hub.
• Provide an effective one-stop agency - MDC.

Content and Information extracted from www.msc.com.my