KUALA LUMPUR: Smart card supplier Datasonic Group Bhd could emerge as one of the frontrunners for the proposed fuel subsidy rationalisation scheme if the government decides to integrate the scheme with the MyKad, of which Datasonic is a supplier.
“Datasonic has always been the frontrunner for this contract, mostly attributed towards its past performance and expertise,” said an industry source.
“Datasonic has a good management team that the government had entrusted with big contracts before, such as the RM292.2 million contract for the supply of MyKad.”
The company is currently helmed by managing director Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin, who has served on the board since 2008, while its deputy managing director Chew Ben Ben came onboard in 2006.
Abu Hanifah became the president of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants in 1987 and led the institute for 13 years until 2000.
He also previously served as a board member of the International Accounting Standards Committee.
Chew was with KL Mutual Fund Bhd before joining Dibena Enterprise Sdn Bhd, one of the stakeholding companies of Datasonic, and he became a director of Datasonic Corporation Sdn Bhd in 2006.
He later assumed the position of executive director in Datasonic Corporation in 2008 before becoming deputy managing director of Datasonic in June 2011, where he is involved in the corporate planning and strategic development in the overall management and business development of the firm.
Holding a leading market share for Malaysia’s smart card solutions, Datasonic is involved in three smart card programmes — the national identification card and passport, the multipurpose payment card and the chip-based debit and credit cards.
Benefiting from Datasonic’s smart card expertise in the financial sector are major banking institutions in Malaysia, such as Citibank, Hong Leong Bank and United Overseas Bank.
Providing cutting-edge innovation and technologies, Datasonic seeks out technology transfers through strategic partnerships with global industry players from the United States, China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland.
Datasonic closed at RM1.95 yesterday, down one sen with 1.6 million shares traded.