With investors concerned about its earnings prospects after the change of government at home, MyEG Services Bhd (MyEG) is eyeing e-government projects in Indonesia. MyEG announced it is buying a 40% stake in e-government service provider PT Cartenz Technology Indonesia for US$10 million (RM41.9 million).
It seems that concerns about MyEG’s ability to secure local e-government projects have prompted it to venture beyond its home turf. This is the third joint venture abroad for the group, after being active in the Philippines since last year and it has also set foot in Bangladesh.
My E.G. Services Bhd (MyEG), through wholly owned sub-subsidiary My EG (Indonesia) Sdn Bhd, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding on investing in the leading e-government services provider in Indonesia, PT Cartenz Technology Indonesia, marking the group’s entry into the e-government space there.
The partnership, subject to the fulfilment of certain terms and conditions, will entail an investment by MyEG of US$10 million (RM41.9 million) for up to a 40% interest. Further, MyEG and Cartenz will jointly implement real-time monitoring of business transactions for tax computation purposes across Indonesia.
Delegates from Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Sheda) and the Ministry of Local Government and Housing Sarawak are now in Shanghai and Hangzhou in China for a study tour.
The objective of the trip, running from today till Oct 27, is to study ‘green building’ and ‘smart building’ technologies.
The public service has heard worse; that it is fat and inefficient. So it is a relief of sorts for the public service when the good doctor, when tabling at Parliament the government’s mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan, said that, as part the government’s reform agenda, the public service will be right-sized.
The previous debate about the public service’s size was rather specious. This is because there is no authoritative benchmark for an ideal size. The issue is not so much about whether the public service is bloated. Rather, it is whether leviathan can be made to work better without costing more.
Although shares in My E.G. Services Bhd recovered slightly this morning after hitting limit-down last Friday, other e-government service providers saw their share prices decline in early trade amid uncertainties over their contracts.
Shares in Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX), Iris Corp Bhd and Prestariang Bhd all fell today after market watchers shared concerns that the new government may review existing concessionaires, including e-government contracts in order to plug leakages.
Read more: MY: e-Govt service providers hit by uncertainties