MINISTRIES MUST TAKE PRO-ACTIVE ACTION TO MAXIMISE USE OF ICT

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The ministries must take pro-active action to
maximise the use of information communication technology (ICT) in the delivery
of public services as it can improve the quality of life of the people and
the image of the government, Najib Razak said Monday.

However, the e-Government initiative should move one step further and go
beyond automation of government transactions, the Malaysian prime minister said.


It had to build the types of services that the public needed and expected,
including making full use of available multimedia tools, mobile access devices
and social network on the Internet.

"Only when the citizens utilise the services and derive benefit from it, can
we consider that a successful delivery of public service," he said before
chairing the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Implementation Council
meeting here, Malaysia's new administrative capital located south of Kuala
Lumpur.

This is the first time that Najib is chairing the meeting since taking over
as prime minister in April this year.

Najib said it was important to bring the national ICT initiative to the
backyards of as many Malaysians as possible to help close the digital divide and
stimulate economic activity in the more rural areas of the country, citing the
example of MSC Malaysia Pahang.

ICT should be seen as not just an industry to be developed but also as an
enabler for major economic sectors to increase productivity and efficiency.

There should also be more initiatives to benefit the citizen and to improve
the quality of life, he said.

"The e-Government initiative, which features MSC Malaysia e-Government
application, was ranked 11th in the world in 2008 according to the US-based
Brookings Institute, a commendable 14-place jump from its 25th position in
2007," he said.

Najib said the e-Government project made it possible for the public to
conduct business with the government over the Internet any time of the day or
week and was one of the ways that had made great strides in improving the public
service delivery.

He said a pilot project to allow Public Works Department draughtsman to work
from home was one such example.

"I would like to now give you an update on what MSC Malaysia has achieved in
the year 2008. Despite the deteriorating global economic condition towards the
fourth quarter of that year, I'm encourage to learn that MSC Malaysia revenue
grew steadily from RM17 billion to RM21.8 billion which was a year-on-year
growth of more than 23 per cent.

"Up to 2008, there were over 90,000 high skill jobs in MSC Malaysia and this
accounts for more than a quarter of the ICT workforce in Malaysia.

"In addition, MSC Malaysia's value-added contribution to Malaysia's GDP was
over 1.2 per cent in 2007. I would certainly like to see this figure more than
triple by the year 2020," he said.

Najib said MSC was the foundation on which to build a world-class technology
sector that could be one of the engines of growth in the New Economic Model
which is to be unveiled by the end of this year.

He said the New Economic Model would be powered by innovation, creativity
and high-value activity which were a natural fit with MSC Malaysia's
aspirations to built a vibrant Malaysian ICT industry.

"When discussing matters during the council meeting, I would encourage
everyone to bear in mind that we aim to be a developed nation by the year 2020
and thatwe are looking to more than double our per capita gross national income
from US$7,000 to at least US$17,000 by then in order to qualify as a high-income
nation according to World Bank classification.

"This would also mean that Malaysia has to grow its GDP by over 9 per cent
annually until the year 2020," he said.

Najib said MSC had already put certain emphasis on various ICT taxes where
it had put in place the framework for a regional creative multimedia hub with
some 200 companies generating RM677 million in annual revenue in the areas of
post production, animation, game development, e-learning, mobile and interactive
content.

"We need to take advantage of this strong start to win a bigger share of the
global content market-estimated to be worth RM2.2 trillion in 2009.

"We need a plan to increase adoption of local ICT solution and services in
the domestic market and give them a stable home base from which they can branch
out to international markets," he said.

Najib said Malaysia also benefited from the strong presence of the world's
top multinationals such as HSBC, BMW, HP and BHL, which were a testament to the
quality of the Malaysian workforce and the attractiveness of MSC Malaysia
incentive.

"In this context, we have in fact become a victim of our own success and
companies are now facing difficulties finding quality knowledge workers due to
the imbalance of supply and demand.

"We, therefore, need to ensure that our education system and social
environment has the capacity to produce, attract and retain talent for the
industries of today as well as tomorrow.

"But, while the development for the ICT industry is encouraging, we will
need to reassess our implementation strategies in light of the more complex and
challenging global environment as well as where Malaysia needs to be in the next
10 years," he said. (US$1=RM3.38)
-- BERNAMA