An internal investigation into Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) has confirmed that all its dealings are in order, says Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
Speaking during the committee-level winding-up of Budget 2025 debates on Thursday (Nov 28), Gobind explained that he had instructed DNB authorities to provide a comprehensive account of their operations since the ministry assumed control of DNB earlier this year.
He added that as part of the transition to a dual-network 5G model, government funds and bank loans currently associated with DNB will be transferred to telecommunications companies, which will then reimburse the government.
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Speaking during the committee-level winding-up of Budget 2025 debates on Thursday (Nov 28), Gobind explained that he had instructed DNB authorities to provide a comprehensive account of their operations since the ministry assumed control of DNB earlier this year.
He added that as part of the transition to a dual-network 5G model, government funds and bank loans currently associated with DNB will be transferred to telecommunications companies, which will then reimburse the government.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/bdd4e5dk
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Chairman, DNB, before January this year, was under the control or an agency of the Ministry of Communication and Digital.
00:19The Ministry of Digital has taken over from the Ministry of Communication in January this year and until now.
00:31Issues that have been raised and often become questions or questions are related to funds used by DNB so far.
00:41And yesterday, issues related to funds of RM16.5 billion were raised, which is said to be money that has been funneled and used by DNB.
00:57Mr. Chairman, allow me to state firmly here that since my ministry took over the DNB agency, we have called on the relevant parties in the DNB to provide a full explanation
01:10on the issues that have been raised in this aspect.
01:17And in addition to that, I have also instructed that audits or due diligence be carried out to ensure that the aspects of the management and so on are followed closely in the DNB.
01:34And I want to state here firmly that if there are or if it is brought to my attention that there are things that need to be handled,
01:45things that are out of the ordinary, I will take action. That is a serious matter and I assure you that if it is brought to my attention, action will be taken.
01:56Related to the aspect of due diligence that has been carried out, due diligence has also given an answer that the things that we see from the management aspect, finance and so on are in order, there is no problem.
02:11In addition to that, I also want to state that when we look at the amount of money that I mentioned earlier, the amount of RM16.5 billion is for a period of 10 years.
02:28Until now, Mr. Chairman, I want to state that the amount of RM16.5 billion for 10 years is not related to government funds, but only two things.
02:45First, RM500 million in equity investment in 2021, as well as RM450 million in shareholder loans by the Minister of Finance, which was established in May 2023.
03:02The Minister of Finance was established as a shareholder. So, this is all the money that came from the parties that I mentioned earlier.
03:13First, equity investment, RM500 million in 2021, and then shareholder loans, RM450 million from the Minister of Finance, which was established in May 2023.
03:26In addition to that, DNB spending is also carried out through private loans, including government-guaranteed bank loans, as well as other financial resources.
03:37So far, Mr. Chairman, I want to state for the record, as of 2024, DNB has spent RM5 billion, and this is for the purpose of building and strengthening the 5G DNB network.
03:56The amount of government funding in the DNB is RM950 million, which is what I mentioned earlier, the first RM500 million, equity investment, and then the RM450 million loan,
04:10as well as government-guaranteed bank loans, will be taken over and repaid by Telco to the government as part of the transition process to the 5G country model.
04:23In fact, Mr. Chairman, the 2nd 5G network cannot be implemented until the Ministry of Finance funds are repaid.
04:32In other words, the government will still be repaid by Telco, and this clearly shows that it will not bear any losses.
04:44So in this matter, I hope that we can understand this problem. 16.5 billion is over a period of 10 years.
04:53The amount that has been issued at this point in time, the RM500 million and the RM450 million, as I said, will be repaid.
05:01And also, as far as I can inform this government, after we took over the DNB, we have made it very clear.
05:10We have implemented due diligence, and the results show that there is no problem with regulation, finance, and the management aspect.
05:22And we are open to any questions asked and give answers at any time.
05:29Also, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that one aspect that has been emphasized, and this can be seen in 2024 this year, 41 projects have been awarded by the DNB.
05:43These projects amount to Rp 51.8 million, and all these projects have been given through the tender process.
05:53And this is one thing that we emphasize in the Ministry of Digital, to ensure that we have transparency on any actions or matters that are handled by the DNB.
06:07The Minister mentioned earlier that due diligence has been done, and what needs to be investigated has been investigated.
06:13Can you briefly state or inform this government, what are the results and findings of the investigation that have been done,
06:22if the SPRM has entered into their findings, whether it is good, good, or bad, or whether there is a problem.
06:28If you can, Mr. Chairman, give a little bit of the findings, if the SPRM has entered.
06:36Minister, I have a follow-up question.
06:38Does this mean that the DNB will continue to be the player in this industry,
06:44even though it may be after being reimbursed by a company related to 5G?
06:54Will the DNB continue to be an industry player in digital affairs? Thank you.
07:01Thank you, Mr. Dungun, for the answer to that question.
07:04Yes, indeed, after the reimbursement, following the terms of the agreement, the SSA, which has been approved,
07:11the DNB will continue to be in the industry.
07:14And we expect that looking at how we move forward, especially in the field of technology and AI and so on,
07:23we are sure that it will still succeed.
07:29Yes, that is my position.
07:32Regarding the question raised by Mr. Timur, Mr. Timur, I have a letter from the SPRM.
07:38I will give it to you later. I have no disagreement with you. I will give it to you.
07:42But Mr. Timur, before we entered into the SSA agreement with Telco and so on,
07:50the process has been implemented to ensure that the matters in the DNB are regulated.
07:58That is a necessity. So, it is necessary for due diligence to be carried out.
08:03So, due diligence is carried out by the DNB and also by the companies involved
08:09to ensure that all the things that are seen in the framework of the measures, finance and so on, are regulated.
08:18And what we get through that process is to show that everything that happens there is regulated.
08:25And to me, it amounts to an audit that shows that what has been implemented so far is in accordance with the needs of the law.
08:36Other than that, Mr. Timur, we can see that the success of the DNB so far,
08:45in more than three years, less than four years, has managed to reach more than 80, I think 82% coverage of COPPA.
08:56And there are a lot of customers, more than 16 million customers.
09:00And this is in less than four years.
09:03This shows that the performance of development in the construction of infrastructure from the DNB
09:11is one that is seen and recognized as one of the best in the world.
09:17So, from that aspect, moving forward, we need to see how we can strengthen the growth of the network or infrastructure
09:26that builds the network in our country.
09:28Because moving forward, I see and I think all of you who are respectful and also take part in today's discussion
09:35can understand that our country needs a strong infrastructure
09:41to ensure that every Malaysian, whether individually, industry or others,
09:48have access to mutual relations that can be used to achieve or change the way we work from the old to the new era of technology.
10:00So, this is one thing that we see.
10:02Moving ahead, I think, of course, there's a lot to be done.
10:05And DNB is one of them.
10:08And this is also in line with what Dungun said earlier.
10:11It will indeed become an industry player that will continue to perform its task
10:15to ensure that our country is ready for the challenges of technology that we will face in the future.
10:21But I would like to say once again, my ministry is always open to Dungun, Grieg, and so on.
10:27If there is a problem, please let us know.
10:30We will look into it, we will investigate, and so on.
10:34We want to carry out an open approach.
10:37Because indeed, many people ask questions about this.
10:40This is a large amount of money and I have no problem with it.
10:43That's why when I became a minister, I kept asking DNB to bring me all the books and figures that we see.
10:49Because we want to make sure that there is no problem.
10:52Because we know that this issue will be raised, not only out there, but also in this noble country.
10:57I hope that answers the question.
11:00Yes, Mujo has been formed into a digital ministry.
11:03Mujo has a minister who is responsible.
11:06There is no longer a grumpy one, no longer a scary one.