Business

Published: Friday November 20, 2009 MYT 2:31:00 PM
Updated: Friday November 20, 2009 MYT 2:35:21 PM

Information and Communications Technology to power Perak's growth


HANOI: Perak state government-appointed ICT facilitator, KPerak Implementation and Coordination (INC) Corporation aims to transform the state into a knowledge economy by 2015, with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as major contributor to economic growth.

Datuk Chang Ko Youn, Adviser to Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, said substantial investments are needed to enable Perak to woo foreign direct investments to knowledge industries.

In this respect, he said, investments to transform the Ipoh Airport into an international hub, particularly for Southeast Asian destinations, will play a pivotal role towards achieving the goal for the state to be the preferred ICT investment destination.

"We have received RM60 million from the federal government to upgrade Ipoh Airport and another RM90 million is needed to turn the airport into an international airport ," he told BERNAMA after the official launch of Walter Rhodes BPO Solutions Sdn Bhd, a newly set up second international SSO (Shared Services and Outsourcing) hub in Hanoi.

Walter Rhodes BPO Solutions is a joint venture between Malaysia-based Walter Rhodes Sdn Bhd and KPerak Implementation and Coordination Corporation.

Chang said the Ipoh Airport was already operating flights to Singapore and Medan and there are plans for it to expand into other Southeast Asian routes.

In realising the goal to transform Perak into a knowledge economy, Chang said there was a need for the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Cybercentre in Meru Raya to find its niche market that complements MSC status centres in Cyberjaya.

On other infrastructures, he said, Ipoh already has excellent facilities such as roads with good connections to major highways and broadband connectivity on par with Kuala Lumpur City.

With these facilities in place, Perak has the attributes to be a global outsourcing centre or SSO hub.

Chang said through a collaboration between KPerak Implementation and Coordination Corporation and Walter Rhodes, a global SSO hub was established in Perak Techno Trade Centre known as the Walter Rhodes Global SSO Centre.

The Walter Rhodes Global SSO Centre serves as a regional outsourcing hub for technology companies to run outsourcing operations for their respective products and services such as payroll and human resource outsourcing, security monitoring and audit, IT support services, web hosting and e-learning.

Chang said the Perak Government is also enthusiastic about working together with other foreign governments to develop SSO industry through strategic overseas marketing missions with Walter Rhodes.

Through the establishment of the Walter Rhodes BPO Solutions Sdn Bhd SSO hub in Hanoi, he said the state government was keen on working together with the Hanoi authorities.

The Global SSO Centre in Hanoi is a joint initiative between Walter Rhodes and Hanel Communications, one of the largest ICT corporations in Hanoi.

"THe Hanel-Walter Rhodes Global SSO centre provides local companies affordable solutions for the various business aspects required for enhanced productivity," he said.

The Perak state government is committed to supporting the Hanel-Walter Rhodes Global SSO initiative, he added. - Bernama

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