Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday said that his country is keen to assist the Saudi city of Al-Madinah to implement the electronic or e-government system to tap the benefits of information communication technology (ICT) in nation-building. He said that Saudi Arabia is aware of Malaysia’s ICT initiatives such as the Multimedia Super Corridor and Cyberjaya, and would like to draw benefits from Malaysian expertise in this field.
Speaking to Malaysian journalists before returning to Malaysia following a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, Badawi said that this ICT plan by Al-Madinah city authorities was conveyed to him in talks with Prince Miqren bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Al-Madinah Region.
Malaysian news agency ‘Bernama’ quoted the Prime Minister as saying: “It is possible to carry out the ICT plan here as Al-Madinah’s Governor is keen to emulate Malaysia’s success with ICT and he, too, has created a vision for Al-Madinah city whereby ICT will play an important role by establishing e-government.” The Prime Minister said that there are similar ICT initiatives in Jeddah. He said that his trip to the Kingdom had been very successful, and Saudi leaders agreed that the private sector had become the engine of growth in their respective countries. The Kingdom and Malaysia are working to promote an increase in trade and investment between the two countries.
Source: SPA
