RM50mil for 1Malaysia email project

Local IT player Tricubes Bhd will invest RM50 million in the 1Malaysia Email Project to provide an account each for official purposes, to all Malaysians aged 18 and above.

The project, said Prime Minister Najib Razak, in announcing it at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya today, will allow direct and secure communications between citizens and the government.

Its purpose is also to enhance the delivery of government services to consumers and businesses alike.

Asked if the project will conflict with e-government sites and services like MyEG, Tricubes said the project differs from the existing initiatives.

"We will focus on delivery of notices and bills, MYEG is about online payment," CEO Khairun Zainal Mokhtar told a press conference after the announcement.

However the description of the project in handouts distributed during the event, said the 1Malaysia email and portal will be a 'one-stop centre for government services, providing value-added services such as social networking, checking bills online and payment'.

Khairun said that Tricubes was working on the project in collaboration with Microsoft.

He also revealed that his company will own the portal and email infrastructure once it is completed sometime in July.

However, he failed to address a question as to how the company will recoup the millions of ringgit in investment.

It was also not apparent how having an email system as an Entry Point Project (EPP) will help to drive Malaysia's transformation to a high-income nation.

Tricubes is also one of the companies involved in the project to supply MyKad and the biometric passport to Malaysians.

New initiatives

The project is one of seven new initiatives and five revisited endeavours that are part of 12 EPPs announced by Najib today.

The other projects are:

1. Asia Media's RM500 million Digital LiveTransit-TV Broadcasting infrastructure

2. Karambunai Corp Bhd-led consortium's RM9.6 billion Karambunai Integrated Resort City

3. International Islamic University Malaysia's RM3.17 million initiative to develop and position Malaysia as the world's leading Islamic finance education hub

4. Infineon Technologies' RM480 million expansion and upgrade to its production capacity, research and development and manufacturing facilities in Malacca

5. Pensonic Holdings Sdn Bhd's RM250 million electrical home appliances manufacturing hub and international distribution network in Penang

6. RM45 million Radio Frequency Identification infrastructure for security and automation of paperless Royal Malaysian Customs checkpoints

7. Myled Master Sdn Bhd's RM175 million expansion to their manufacturing capability in LED lighting

8. Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority's RM30 million 'Pasar Komuniti' initiative to co-ordinate and amalgamate day- and night-markets in locations with better facilities

9. A RM3.26 million government baseline study on e-counter services and paperless government

Quizzed how the companies came to be awarded the projects, Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO, Idris Jala (left), who was also at the press conference said that it was a mixed bag.

"For government projects like 1Malaysia Email Project, there was open bidding and Tricubes won the award.

"Other projects like the Karambunai Integrated Resort City, are private projects that the company itself wanted to do. Our (government's) role is to facilitate approvals."

This is the fifth progress report that Najib has announced on the 131 projects planned under the ETP.