Tourism Malaysia plans to launch internet-visa (i-visa), e-visa (e-mail visa) to ease entry norms for Indians in the country which will felicitate more tourists, officials close to the development told this newspaper said on Friday.
"An announcement rega-rding the two new visa application methods will be made in Chennai on Saturday," the officials said.
Besides, Tourism Mala-ysia on Friday announced a Rs 120 million campaign here to celebrate the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of Malaysia’s Independence and attract more than 3.50 lakh Indian tourists by 2007. The campaign ex-pects to attract more than 20 million global visitors and has identified eight specific regions in the world for a variety of strategic marketing initiatives.
India would be among the top 10-arrival contributing and among the top seven revenue-generating nations during the campaign.
Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Geg, deputy director general of Tourism Malaysia said India was the first country where it was launching its global campaign officially to attract "high-end" tourists.
Malaysia to soon go hi-tech with i-visa, e-visa
March 4, 2006, 9:39 amBudget to hit software sector adversely
March 4, 2006, 9:38 am
The Business Software Alliance (BSA), considered to be the voice of the world’s commercial hardware and software industry, announced on Friday that the Union Budget 2006 would have a negative impact on the growth of the Indian software industry due to the imposition of the eight per cent excise duty on packaged software, and the increase in the service tax to 12 per cent.
BSA members include, Apple, Avid, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, SAP and Cisco.Mr Kiran Karnik, Nasscom president, said, "Increase in levies on packaged software and on IT hardware will result in higher prices and have an adverse impact on millions of customers and on the domestic IT market.
It will be a setback to efforts to promote IT utilisation in the Indian economy and for vital applications like education and health. The increase in service tax and broadening the net to cover some previously excluded IT-related services will not only raise costs, but will act as a deterrent to outsourcing work to SMEs."
According to the BSA, increased software costs will hurt the fight against piracy which in turn will have an adverse impact on the economy. According to a recent study by the International Data Corporation, a reduction in the software piracy by 10 points can have a significant impact on India’s economy and would add 115,847 jobs, contribute $5.9 billion to the GDP, $386 million in taxes and $8.2 billion in revenues to local vendors.
BSA members include, Apple, Avid, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, SAP and Cisco.Mr Kiran Karnik, Nasscom president, said, "Increase in levies on packaged software and on IT hardware will result in higher prices and have an adverse impact on millions of customers and on the domestic IT market.
It will be a setback to efforts to promote IT utilisation in the Indian economy and for vital applications like education and health. The increase in service tax and broadening the net to cover some previously excluded IT-related services will not only raise costs, but will act as a deterrent to outsourcing work to SMEs."
According to the BSA, increased software costs will hurt the fight against piracy which in turn will have an adverse impact on the economy. According to a recent study by the International Data Corporation, a reduction in the software piracy by 10 points can have a significant impact on India’s economy and would add 115,847 jobs, contribute $5.9 billion to the GDP, $386 million in taxes and $8.2 billion in revenues to local vendors.
Bush defends outsourcing to India
March 4, 2006, 9:37 am
US President George W. Bush on Friday strongly defended the outsourcing of jobs from the United States, saying that the US should welcome rather than fear competition from India."People do lose jobs as a result of globalisation, and it’s painful for those who lose jobs.
But the fundamental question is, how does a government or society react to that. And it’s basically one of two ways. One is to say, losing jobs is painful, therefore, let’s throw up protectionist walls. And the other is to say, losing jobs is painful, so let’s make sure people are educated so they can find, fill the jobs of the 21st century," President Bush said at an interactive session with young entrepreneurs at the Indian School of Business.
He said that the best way to manage globalisation and the consequent loss of jobs, was the "make sure that there’s pro-growth economic policies in place". "What does that mean? That means low taxes; it means less regulation; it means fewer lawsuits; it means a wise energy policy," he said.
President Bush said he had taken the position that the United States will reject protectionism. "We won’t fear competition, we welcome competition, but we won’t fear the future, either, because we intend to shape it through good policies," he said.
"And that’s how you deal in a global economy. You don’t retrench and pull back. You welcome competition and you understand globalisation provides great opportunities. And so people in America should, I hope, maintain their confidence about the future," he said.When one of the participants asked President Bush why India had suddenly become important for the United States, he said, "I think India has always been an important country, but the problem is, international politics made it very difficult for previous Presidents and previous Prime Ministers to reach common agreement."
"We’re getting rid of the Cold War and the truth of the matter is, the Cold War caused the world to become pretty well divided. And if you’re on one side of the divide, it was politically difficult to work with people on the other side of the divide. That began to change, of course. And so I wouldn’t say that India was not an important country up to now, because it was."
But the fundamental question is, how does a government or society react to that. And it’s basically one of two ways. One is to say, losing jobs is painful, therefore, let’s throw up protectionist walls. And the other is to say, losing jobs is painful, so let’s make sure people are educated so they can find, fill the jobs of the 21st century," President Bush said at an interactive session with young entrepreneurs at the Indian School of Business.
He said that the best way to manage globalisation and the consequent loss of jobs, was the "make sure that there’s pro-growth economic policies in place". "What does that mean? That means low taxes; it means less regulation; it means fewer lawsuits; it means a wise energy policy," he said.
President Bush said he had taken the position that the United States will reject protectionism. "We won’t fear competition, we welcome competition, but we won’t fear the future, either, because we intend to shape it through good policies," he said.
"And that’s how you deal in a global economy. You don’t retrench and pull back. You welcome competition and you understand globalisation provides great opportunities. And so people in America should, I hope, maintain their confidence about the future," he said.When one of the participants asked President Bush why India had suddenly become important for the United States, he said, "I think India has always been an important country, but the problem is, international politics made it very difficult for previous Presidents and previous Prime Ministers to reach common agreement."
"We’re getting rid of the Cold War and the truth of the matter is, the Cold War caused the world to become pretty well divided. And if you’re on one side of the divide, it was politically difficult to work with people on the other side of the divide. That began to change, of course. And so I wouldn’t say that India was not an important country up to now, because it was."
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