KAMPAR, Feb 28 – The Perak government has identified additional locations in an effort to create a Digital Economy Centre (PEDi) in every state constituency, said Communications, Multimedia and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi Helmi.
He said, so far, 71 PEDi have been established and are operational in Perak to improve digital literacy among the people here as well as to encourage community participation in digital economic activities in line with the initiatives of the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD).
“So far, there are 19 state constituencies still without PEDi. We will focus on them first to ensure all state constituencies have it. I was told that there are parliamentary constituencies which have established more than one PEDi.
“I expect efforts to create additional PEDi in the 19 state constituencies to be completed this year,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday (Feb 24), announced that the government would ensure there is at least one PEDi facility in every state constituency by the end of the year to assist small traders in gaining ICT and e-commerce knowledge.
Mohd Azlan Helmi is also confident that the additional centres would help the state government achieve its target of bridging the digital gap between urban and rural communities.
Perak has 59 state constituencies and the 19 still without the PEDi are Alor Pongsu, Kuala Sepetang, Trong, Aulong, Jalong, Canning, Tebing Tinggi, Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Kepayang, Jelapang, Menglembu, Tronoh, Pantai Remis, Astaka, Malim Nawar, Keranji, Simpang Pulai and Chenderiang.
