PUTRAJAYA – The Community Communications Department (J-Kom) is now under the purview of the Communications Ministry, minister Fahmi Fadzil has announced.
Speaking at a post-cabinet meeting press conference today, Fahmi confirmed that his ministry will be overseeing the department, which was previously parked under the Prime Minister’s Department.
J-Kom was an agency originally under the purview of the then Communications and Multimedia Ministry, but was placed under the Prime Minister’s Office during the administration of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Fahmi also said that while the cabinet has yet to finalise the separation of agencies between his ministry and the Digital Ministry led by Gobind Singh Deo, some others have been finalised.
Those that will come under the Communications Ministry are the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, national news agency Bernama, the Tun Abdul Razak Institute of Broadcasting and Information, the Broadcasting Department, the Information Department, National Film Development Corp and MyCreative Ventures.
Those under the Digital Ministry are Malaysia Digital Economy Corp, domain registry Mynic and the Personal Data Protection Department.
The Digital Ministry is a new ministry carved out from the Communications and Digital Ministry following yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle.
One agency yet to find a home is Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), the special-purpose vehicle for the country’s 5G network roll-out.
Fahmi said discussions are still ongoing to determine which ministry would be in charge of DNB.
Asked if some agencies with similar functions would be merged, he answered in the negative.
Fahmi also stated his support for separating the communications and digital portfolios into separate ministries, especially to oversee the regulation of digitisation in the economy and everyday life.
“It’s important to clarify that the ministry (communications and digital) was broken into two because, based on my experience which I conveyed to the prime minister, the digital aspect also involves several other ministries,” Fahmi said.
“There must be some form of standardisation since the digital economy plays a key role in strengthening our economy under the New Industrial Master Plan.
“To me, the decision to have a Digital Ministry on its own is not just right, but also timely,” he added. – December 13, 2023