Press Release

KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Malaysia’s national applied research and development centre MIMOS has apppointed Sapura Energy Bhd president and chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin as its chairman effective from May 18, 2020.

In a statement, MIMOS which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and innovation (MOSTI), said Shahril succeeds Datuk Wira Omar Kaseh, who completed his three-year tenure.

It said this is the second time in twelve years that Shahril, 58, holds this position.

It said he had earlier served as MIMOS Chairman from Jan 16, 2005 to July 4, 2008.

Shahril is also the president and group CEO of Sapura Group, which manages a diversified portfolio of businesses that include secured communications technologies, aviation, automotive manufacturing and property development.

“The reappointment of the oil and gas magnate is attributed to his management expertise, corporate leadership and capabilities in technology-intensive fields.

“Shahril’s return to MIMOS is expected to strengthen the centre’s roles in leading industry development which entails advanced R&D, technology ventures and incubation as well as capacity and capability building in the fields of ICT, semiconductor and microelectronics,” it said.

MIMOS Chief Executive Officer Emelia Matrahah said: “We are delighted to once again welcome Tan Sri Shahril. With his extensive experience and diversified portfolio, we are confident that he will lead MIMOS to even greater heights.”

BUKIT JALIL, March 19 — MIMOS Berhad confirms that an employee at its Technology Park Malaysia office in Bukit Jalil has tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday (18 March 2020) and is now receiving medical attention at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.  All entry to MIMOS is now prohibited until 31 March 2020.

The affected employee, a 28-year old engineer, had gone to seek treatment after developing symptoms, and was subsequently diagnosed as positive with COVID-19.

Following the confirmed case, MIMOS has intensified its control measures to prevent possible risks of the virus further spreading.

MIMOS had started precautionary measures on the novel coronavirus since the beginning of its outbreak last year; and had made arrangements for temporary closure of its offices in Technology Park Malaysia as well as in Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah, from 18 till 31 March 2020 in line with the government’s recent Movement Control Order.

As a standard HSE measure, all employees who have been in direct contact with the affected employee from 2 to 12 March 2020 have also been asked to undergo screening and testing; and observe self-quarantine by staying at home for the next 14 days.

MIMOS would like to emphasise that HSE is its key priority.  All visitors to MIMOS office in Technology Park Malaysia from 2 to 12 March 2020 are advised to seek medical care if they developed symptoms of COVID-19.

About MIMOS
MIMOS is Malaysia’s national Applied Research and Development Centre.  As a strategic agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), MIMOS contributes to transforming Malaysia’s industry through patentable technology platforms, products and solutions. Over the past 12 years, MIMOS has filed more than 2,000 Intellectual Properties in various technology domains and across key socio-economic areas. Serving a central role in Malaysia’s transformation journey and ICT Vision, MIMOS endeavours to create a culture of innovation by nurturing relationships with internal and external stakeholders, in the spirit of smart partnerships and inclusive growth models and strategies.

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KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Dec 2019:  Malaysian industries need to invest more in sustainable solutions if they want to compete in the international market, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Dr Ong Kian Ming said.

He mentioned this at a dinner hosted by national applied research and development centre, MIMOS, marking the successful completion of a pilot project on traceability of sustainable palm oil in collaboration with P&G, a global brand leader in fast-moving consumer goods (FCMG). The dinner was also attended by project partners Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Malaysia Institute of Supply Chain Innovation (MISI).

“I see a fruitful partnership between P&G and MIMOS involving Industry 4.0 technologies such as Big Data, Blockchain and Internet of Things, in developing the Oil Palm Data Warehouse for sustainability.

“This is something which MITI wants to see much more of. Such a project would benefit our smallholders by increasing trust in their sustainability practices,” Dr Ong said.

These efforts are in line with the fact that the Government has made it mandatory for oil palm growers in Malaysia to obtain Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, with the aim of enabling growers to eventually attain RSPO certification for assuring international markets of their sustainability.

In 2017, P&G started a collaboration with MIMOS to create an Oil Palm Data Warehouse and analytics system using locally-developed Big Data Analytics and Blockchain technology to optimise the efficiency of data collection process by industry.

The system facilitates the tracking of private smallholders’ interactions with dealers as well as the movement of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) produced from the farms. To date, over a thousand smallholders in Johor have been engaged and enabled to apply this traceability solution through the collaboration.

The traceability platform establishes relationships between P&G palm suppliers to palm oil mills and refineries. Through this system, P&G is able to identify areas of social and environmental risks along their supply chain; they subsequently can plan and monitor follow-up actions for improvement and progress.

P&G director of global sustainability Jack McAneny said the project would be one of the key enablers for the entire smallholder effort in Malaysia, with the goal to improve yields by 30-50 percent, improve the livelihood of the smallholders, and ensure sustainable practices in the P&G palm oil supply chain.

“The project will bring significant benefits, consistent with P&G’s theme of collaborating to drive impact at scale,” McAneny said at the same event. P&G is committed to the responsible sourcing of palm oil and has declared livelihood improvement for the palm oil smallholders as one of its Ambition 2030 environmental sustainability goals.

Recognising the value of the project, Dr Ong urged for it to be expanded nationwide and to other supply chains. “I look forward to this project continuing to the next phase and expanding nationwide. I also hope this data warehouse and supply chain analytics system can be adopted by industry players and applied in other supply chains beyond oil palm,” Dr Ong said.

MIMOS is Malaysia’s national applied research development centre and is open to collaboration for commercialisation of solutions developed in partnership with the private sector.

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BUKIT JALIL, 11 Sept 2019: More technology solutions for tackling environmental issues are in the pipeline, said national applied research and development (R&D) centre MIMOS.

Among MIMOS’ solutions for the environment include Internet of Things (IoT)-based systems for peat forest management, flora and fauna protection and river quality monitoring.

MIMOS Chief Technology Officer Thillai Raj said emerging technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics can play a central role in ensuring sustainable development and a healthy community across the globe.

“Prolonged dry spells and burning of agricultural waste in forest reserves have often caused bushfires in many parts of the world including Malaysia, and haze is just one of the consequences,” he said.

“There are also increasing poaching or encroachment activities in forest reserve areas, as well as issues in river water quality in some parts of the country.

“Technological advancements do not only drive businesses and industries. They are also the planet’s best hope in helping to solve environmental issues,” Raj said.

“Advanced technologies such as IoT, AI and big data analytics can play important roles in preventing environmental issues and threats such as poaching, deforestation, and biodiversity loss,” he said.

MIMOS’ solution for peat forest management is basically an early warning system for peat forest fire detection. The system enables forest management authorities to better understand the peat swamp forest ecosystem through microclimate data, subsequently providing alerts for immediate human interventions.

Similar to the peat forest management system, MIMOS’ solution for flora and fauna is an IoT-based monitoring system installed in forest reserve areas that provides immediate notification for human interventions. Apart from IoT, the solution also employs AI-based video analytics for intelligent surveillance of the forest reserve areas.

MIMOS has also come up with a river water quality monitoring solution. These environmental technology solutions will be showcased during the Ozone Day at Technology Park Malaysia in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur from 8am to 1pm, tomorrow (12 Sept 2019).

Organised by the Department of Environment, the event is held in conjunction with the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2019.

There will also be lectures and collection of electronic waste for recycling.

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Reference is made to newsreports in two local Malay language dailies on June 10.

MIMOS Berhad (MIMOS) vehemently denies the allegation of any cover-up being the cause of the recent dismissal of four senior executives, including its President & CEO. The two local Malay language dailies had reported yesterday on these allegations made by a local political party that the four executives were dismissed as an attempt to cover-up pilferage of large sums of project funds.

MIMOS has always adhered strictly to corporate governance practices as well as abided to the policies and guidelines of both the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Any project implementation and contract award is always subject to regular internal control processes and Treasury Guidelines of the Malaysian Government.

The four executives concerned were the subject of an exhaustive investigation by MIMOS’ internal audit team, which led to the due process of domestic inquiries and were subsequently dismissed in April 2019.

The domestic inquiries by MIMOS were conducted with full transparency and independence without any interference by the management and the Board of Directors of MIMOS. The domestic inquiry panellists included senior representatives from the Government.

The domestic inquiry panel had found that the four executives were in breach of the company’s policies and code of conduct, and as such disciplinary action was taken to dismiss them.

At all stages of the disciplinary proceedings, the executives were given ample opportunities to present their respective cases. MIMOS takes pride in following due process and treating its employees and officers with fairness and respect.

MIMOS has sought legal advice and will take the necessary action against those responsible for the allegations put forth against it.

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