MDV hosts 3rd Business & Technology Speakers’ Series

Themed ‘Broadband – Delivering Convergence, Enabling Society’

13 November 2008 KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Inc, hosted the third Business & Technology Speakers’ Series (B&T Speakers’ Series) themed ‘Broadband - Delivering Convergence, Enabling Society’ on the 11 November 2008. The B&T Speakers’ Series is MDV’s innovation to create a platform for industry leaders and players to network as well as exchange ideas and insights, thus fulfilling MDV’s role as a development facilitator for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Mr Nitin Bhat, Senior Vice President for ICT Group, Asia Pacific, Frost and Sullivan gave the outlook and perspectives in broadband penetration in Malaysia, which stood at 15 per cent for first quarter 2008. He also highlighted the Government’s aim to increase broadband penetration by 50 per cent by year 2010.

(from left to right): C.J. Ang, President of Pikom; Dr Zakaria Abd. Hadi, Director, Electronic Government Development Division, MAMPU; and Sharil Tarmizi, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) during the forum.

Encik Md Zubir Ansori Yahya, MDV managing director and chief executive officer said, “Broadband is an essential technology catalyst to further propel the country’s development. Participation by small, medium enterprises (SMEs) is crucial especially in improving their business processes and we look forward to a more competitive broadband environment which will benefit the end users.”

B&T Speakers’ Series was attended by prominent ICT industry leaders who formed two panels for the speakers’ forum. Dr Mohamed Awang Lah, CEO, Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd; Ganesh Kumar Bangah, CEO, MOL AccessPortal Bhd; Yow Lock Sen, Director at MyICMS, Technology & Standards Division, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC); and Afzal Abdul Rahim, Chairman, Communications and Multimedia Licensees’ Association discussed the issues of broadband infrastructure, accessibility, incentives for service providers and the development of the internet ecosystem.

Meanwhile Mr Nitin Bhat; C.J. Ang, President of Pikom; Dr Zakaria Abd. Hadi, Director, Electronic Government Development Division, MAMPU; and Sharil Tarmizi, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) talked about the factors and measures required to enable a digitally-aware society.

B&T Speakers’ Series is an annual knowledge sharing session organised by MDV with the aim to enhance industry knowledge for ICT players. “At MDV we go beyond financing accessibility. We provide advisory services to customers in their respective industries which is in line with the government’s objective to move Malaysia up the ICT and Biotechnology value chain,” said Encik Md Zubir further.

MDV was set up in 2002 to help finance companies in fast-developing sectors such as ICT. Since its inception, it has approved loans amounting to RM3.5 billion to more than 250 companies, mostly SMEs. MDV employs a loan process model made simple for borrowers, taking no more than 45 working days from the date of submission of completed documents.