Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (above) has said that the government is prepared to give tax exemptions to media companies on the condition that the companies take every step possible to avoid retrenching their employees.
This comes in light of the ongoing retrenchment exercise by media conglomerate Media Prima Bhd, which will reportedly see 543 staff from the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) group leaving their positions in March next year.
"We don't interfere in the marketplace but I had a meeting with the corporate bosses of media companies last week (and) they were basically asking about some tax measures and some tax exemptions.
"Even though we may have our differences, we were very receptive.
"I said in the event we give them tax exemptions, we want them to give us assurances that they will take every step possible not to retrench media employees.
"No matter our differences, we want to argue based on facts. Let's argue it out. We do not want to see any loss of jobs," Lim said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Just a few months ago, the nation's oldest Malay language newspaper Utusan Malaysia had terminated its operations on Oct 9, with its sister publication Kosmo facing the same fate. - Mkini
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