Dagang Net expects 16% rise in revenue

Published by The Edge

Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd expects a 16% rise in revenue to RM58 million in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2006 from RM50 million last year with the implementation of several new electronic commerce initiatives.

Its chief executive officer Saifol Shamlan said the initiatives included the signing up of all 24 permits issuing government agencies onto its electronic permit (e-Permit) project and the development of electronic systems for online documentation of K3 forms and shipping manifest (e-Manifest).

K3 Forms are used for transfers of goods between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak while manifest forms are documents submitted by the carriers to describe the goods loaded or unloaded at the ports of call.

“We want all the agencies to sign up (for e-Permit) this year,” Saifol told reporters after attending the opening ceremony of United Nations Electronic Trade Documents Working Group workshop on international standards to stimulate paperless trade.

Dagang Net is a 60.16% subsidiary of Time Engineering Bhd, while other shareholders include Lembaga Tabung Haji and Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd.

Saifol said there were three agencies – Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama), Malaysian Cocoa Board and Pesticide Board of Malaysia – which had implemented e-Permits.

One agency, Department of Environment for Hazardous Waste, was still conducting a pilot test run while 11 others were under requirement study to embark on similar system integrations tests, he said.

Saifol also said e-Manifest would start its pilot run next month while K3, which had been tested for the last two months, would go live in April.

On the company's financials, he said its revenue only started increasing as more ports converted to its Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system between 2003 and 2004.

“For a long time, only Subang airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Port Klang use our EDI system. Later Johor, Penang and other smaller ports,” he added.

More than 20 ports, comprising almost all major ports, except those in rural areas, are using Dagang Net's EDI system.

Looking ahead, the company said it intended to implement UN electronic trade documents (UNeDocs) by 2007 that will facilitate exports by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

UNeDocs is the global standard for digital trade documents which allows countries to align their local systems with the international purchase and supply chain.

“UNeDocs can also make it easier for our local SMEs to become international trading entities.

"By using a standard PC and access to the Internet, Malaysian SMEs will be able to work with UNeDocs and participate in paperless trading via an interoperable single-entry window thus increasing their capabilities to globalise their operations faster at lower costs and in a secure environment,” said Saifol.