EPF staff undergoes knowledge, skills and attitude training and development at the EPF Social Security Training Institute (ESSET) located in Bangi

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF)’s commitment in enhancing its ICT facilities has paid off when the EPF Office in Sarawak was awarded the Sarawak Federal Secretary’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Award recently.

This ICT Award is jointly organized by the Sarawak Federal Secretary’s Office and the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), Sarawak branch, to recognize and acknowledge Federal agencies in the state that have demonstrated excellence in the field of information technology.

EPF Sarawak was awarded for its improved customer delivery service through its investments in ICT platforms and systems for various aspects of its operations. Since 2003, EPF has taken proactive measures to enhance the use of ICT in all its state and branch offices nationwide as part of their ICT Master Plan. The ICT Award is created with these objectives in mind:

• To encourage and improve the usage of ICT as an enabling tool to improve performance, efficiency and productivity of Federal agencies

• To acknowledge and recognize the efforts, initiatives and investments on ICT made by Federal agencies

• To generate publicity on successful ICT implementation

• To encourage healthy competitions amongst Federal agencies in using ICT to improve service quality.

Due to large amount of public funds which EPF, the national retirement savings scheme handles, it is essential to implement best practices in terms of prudence in investment decisions and corporate governance. As a customer-focused organization, EPF must deliver efficient and reliable services for the convenience of its members and registered employers. EPF Sarawak’s achievement with the ICT Award reaffirms its dedication to continuously strive towards customer service excellence.

ICT improves work processes, making it more organized, effective and efficient

As of June 2005, EPF has a total of RM248.6 billion invested in various instruments including Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) (38.1%), Loans and Bonds (33.5%), Equity (19.4%), Money Market Instruments (8.3%) and Property (0.7%). Active membership base grew from 5.12 million to 5.16 million in the first quarter of 2005, and number of employers increased from 377,000 to 382,500. A total of 225,000 withdrawal applications was processed and approved during the second quarter of 2005, with a combined value of RM3.8 billion.