SPEECH BY
Yang Berhormat
Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdullah
Bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar,
Minister Of Communications
At The
Launching Of Comquest Sdn Bhd
Wednesday, 30th May 2012, 3.00pm
HMR Complex, Kg Jaya Setia Berakas
Yang
Mulia Dato Paduka Awang Haji Hisham bin Haji Hanifah, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Finance, as the Chairman of Telekom Brunei
Berhad,
Yang
Mulia Dato Paduka Awang Haji Alaihuddin bin Pehin Orang Kaya Digadong
Seri Lela Dato Seri Utama Haji Awang Mohd Taha, Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Communications;
Yang Mulia Awang Haji Umarali bin Haji Abdullah, Acting CEO, Telekom Brunei Berhad;
His Excellency Fakhri Al Said, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Brunei Darussalam,
Mr Vishwanathan, Director of Comquest Sendirian Berhad,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,
Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and a very good afternoon.
1. First
and foremost, I would like to congratulate Telekom Brunei Berhad
(TelBru) and Bahwan CyberTek of Oman on their joint collaboration in
establishing Comquest Sdn Bhd.
2. I
also would like to express my sincere gratitude to invite me as the
Guest of Honor today. This is familiar ground to me and I am very happy
to see old friends as well as new faces in the representing the ICT
industry today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
3. The
collaboration between TelBru and Bahwan CyberTek is just one of the
true examples of the spin offs from broadband technology. As we all
know, the role of broadband technology in spurring economic growth is
undeniable. In its recent report, the International Telecommunications
Union has identified the role of broadband technology as a contributor
to economic growth at several levels. First,
the role of broadband technology in improving productivity, by
facilitating the adoption of more efficient business processes. Second,
extensive deployment of broadband accelerates innovation by introducing
new consumer applications and services. Third, broadband leads to
maximum reach to labour pools, access to raw materials, and consumers[1].
4. In
line with this observation, as the fixed broadband provider in Brunei
Darussalam, I am pleased to learn of TelBru’s initiative. The
establishment of Comquest Sdn Bhd a contact centre in Brunei Darussalam
is one the many examples of the benefits of broadband. Benefits may not
be weighed in monetary terms alone, but also equally important in other
indirect and non-tangible forms as well. Creations of employment and
business opportunities, training and enhancement of skills, facilitation
of processes, savings in time, energy and resources are key benefits of
broadband utilization.
5. Hence,
the growth of broadband-oriented businesses is encouraged in Brunei
Darussalam. With the current roll out of broadband infrastructure by
Telbru, I hope to see more local players, either companies and
individuals, to fully utilize this technology.
6. The
Ministry of Communications is currently considering the policy for
nationwide deployment of Fibre to the home (FTTH) in Brunei Darussalam.
To ensure that the policy, regulation and implementation are thorough,
practical and feasible, the Ministry of Communications has been
referring to international and regional best practices. It is in the
best interest of the Ministry for the users in Brunei Darussalam to
experience high quality and affordable broadband services, if not more,
but comparable to our
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
7. The global potentials of contact or call centres are undeniable. With more than 600,000 call centre workers, the Philippines officially overtook India as the world's call centre capital, India has been overtaken by the Philippines in this area[2].
Nowadays, the nature of this business has expanded. Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) has emerged as the encompassing offshore IT enabled
services. BPO does not merely take calls but includes financial and
administration (F&A) processes, human resources (HR) functions, call
center and customer service activities as well as accounting and
payroll. In 2010, India's overall BPO revenue was $70bn, compared to $9bn in the Philippines[3].
8. Experts
have stated this is where the future lies. Although there are already
established players in this business, I am pleased to see Comquest Sdn
Bhd’s bold move in this venture. We all have our respective strengths
and visions. By leveraging on our own strengths, surroundings and human
resources, I am optimistic that there are opportunities for everyone.
9. Let
me share with you my observation on what we can leverage upon in Brunei
Darussalam. In the UNDP Human Development Report 2011, Brunei
Darussalam is ranked in 33rd position,
among Very High Human Development Countries. Our labour force
participation rate for male is 74.8% while for female is 59.7%[4].
Meanwhile our literacy rate for population aged 15 and older is at
95.3%. What we can see from the imbalance in the male and female
labour force participation rate is that there are a number of literate
and educated female who are unemployed. There could be reasons for this
such as the need to balance family commitments and non-flexible
workingWith the business nature of contact centres, this can open up
opportunities for the female population to be employed in flexible
working hours. Such strategy is in line with the theme of World
Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2012, “Women and Girls in
ICT”.
10. I
would urge for such consideration as this is in line with our vision of
a Sophisticated Society in Brunei. This is where equal opportunities,
regardless of gender, age groups, and educational levels, can be
benefitted by the whole population.
11. The business collaboration BahwanCyberTek,aSultanate
of Oman based IT products and Services company and eSipadu Systems
which is a leading System Integrator and a 100% owned subsidiary of
Telekom Brunei Berhad to
establish a call centre in Brunei is very much welcome. By bringing in
the technology to operate the call center, sharing experiences and
expertise would compliment our effort to enhance telecommunication
Industry development in Brunei Darussalam and this is an important
testimony of our capability in providing services internationally. I am
hopeful more multinational companies will consider to use Brunei as the
call centres for their establishment. I look forward to seerange of
call centres services being offer in the future using state of the art
technology and high tech infrastructure with a proven capable workforce
manning the call centre.
Sekian Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
THANK YOU.
