Following Malaysia’s Budget 2022 announcement on 29 October and the month-long parliamentary debate, the BMCC organised a virtual dialogue with the Minister of Finance, Yang Berhormat Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz on 2 December 2021. Sterling members of the BMCC were given the opportunity to provide their feedback on the 2022 Budget and raise key issues that might be of concern to UK investors and businesses here in Malaysia.
YB Senator Tengku Zafrul, in his opening remarks, said, “We are blessed that Malaysia and UK continue to have strong bilateral trade relations facilitated by the BMCC in advancing trade efforts between both nations. In 2020, the UK was Malaysia’s 18th largest trading partner globally despite the pandemic and recorded an increase of 1.4% in trade volume and from January to October 2021, trade volume increased to 2.5% to RM14 billion compared to the same period last year.”
Among the key issues raised were the lack of clarity on the implementation of the Foreign-Sourced Income Tax and the one-off Prosperity Tax announced for next year. Representatives from the education sector also requested consideration by the ministry on the extension of tax incentives under pioneer status for new investments and tax exemptions for private international schools, as enrolment of students over the last two years has suffered tremendously. In addition, issues on talent development in the country through better public-private collaborations were also discussed.
The Chamber would like to convey our appreciation to YB Senator Tengku Zafrul and his team at the Ministry of Finance for the opportunity to engage and conduct this dialogue where feedback from the industry and businesses could be heard.
