The government has allocated a M$5 million grant to Malaysian companies for the implementation of an internet-based global supply chain. Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry announced that the grant will be available in 2002, when it will be distributed through the ministry and the Small/Medium Industries Development Corporation.
The grant underlines the government's desire to establish Malaysia as an IT, telecommunications/multimedia and e-commerce hub. The government's sizeable budget allocation to e-commerce ventures are proof of its devotion to the sector.
The five parts of the Malaysian E-government project are:
- the Electronic Delivery of Driver and Vehicle Registration, Licensing and Summons Services, Utility Payments and Ministry of Health Online Information system;
- the Generic Office Environment;
- Electronic Procurement (ePerolehan);
- the Human Resource Management Information system; and
- the Project Monitoring system.
ePerolehan provides online links between government agencies and their suppliers. The rules and code of practice in relation to its implementation are laid down in the Treasury Circular Bill 5, 2000 (Implementation of ePerolehan under the Electronic Government Project) and Treasury Circular Bill 7, 2000 (Rules and Code of Practice for Electronic Procurement of Central Contracts through the ePerolehan System).
ePerolehan serves as a single point of registration for suppliers and is intended to:
- provide cost savings for the government;
- ensure accountability and transparency in all electronic procurements;
- ensure the efficient management of government supplies through the electronic tracking and audit trail functions, which enable government agencies and auditors to track the procurement process and transactions; and
- enable improved planning, financial budgeting and inventory management with the availability of up-to-date and easily accessible statistical information on products, services, suppliers, performance levels and ratings.
The system, exclusively provided to the government by Commerce Dot Com Sdn Bhd, essentially enables four types of procurement, namely:
- central contracts;
- direct purchases;
- quotations; and
- tenders.
All suppliers that wish to register with the Ministry of Finance must do so through ePerolehan. The ministry no longer accepts manual applications, other than supporting documentation.
It covers the entire procurement cycle, from the initial registration of suppliers to the fulfilment of orders and the processing of payments. It further purports to deploy a state-of-the-art security system which uses a smart card, containing a digital certificate issued by a licensed certification authority.
This is a national four-phase project that will be rolled out nationwide by the end of 2002 and may involve up to 3,500 government procurement centres and 28,000 government-registered suppliers. It is intended to be operational for five years. The long-term objective of e-Perolehan is to replicate its implementation in other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Commonwealth, G15 and G17 countries.
For further information on this topic please contact Sharon Suyin Tan at Zaid Ibrahim & Co by telephone (+603 257 9999) or by fax (+603 254 4888) or by email ([email protected]).