Big plans for i-City
SHAH Alam’s most advanced township, i-City, was honoured recently with the visit of two ministers.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat was the guest-of-honour at the official naming of the township’s main boulevard while Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi launched the International Islamic Hub in i-City.
I-City, developed by I-Berhad, is a RM2bil integrated commercial development on a 29ha site in Section 7, Shah Alam. I-Berhad chairman Datuk Lim Kim Hong’s vision is to make it a digital city where the entire township is connected by one fibre optic network and managed as one commercial complex.
Unique: The City Walk is a pedestrian mall in i-City, Shah Alam.
“The technology to make this vision a reality is the Cisco Connected Real Estate (CISCO CRE) platform. With this technology in place, all the buildings and offices within i-City can communicate with one another as well as with the global community via high speed Internet service,’’ Lim said.
Ong said the i-City management model had parallels to many agencies and GLCs under the Transport Ministry such as Port Klang and KLIA which manage large areas.
“In these organisations, it is recognised that the rapid evolution of the Internet into an ultra fast, powerful and borderless communication tool has transformed the course in which businesses are conducted.
These organisations have adopted Internet technology to better provide customer services. In many ways, they are no different than i-City in making use of the Internet as the technology platform.
”In the current economic climate, the i-City business model is one way to allow these agencies and GLCs to continue to invest in technology without creating additional burden on the shareholders and the Government”.
New: Lim (left) and Ong posing in front of the Jalan Multimedia signboard after the naming ceremony.
”Furthermore, as the i-City is near KLIA and Port Klang, i-City could be a support hub for the many logistics companies located there,’’ Ong added.
He said from his ministry’s perspective, such a centre would be good because it would enable many Malaysian logistics companies to compete cost effectively with the global players.
I-City also offers a campus environment where the communities gather, meet and interact. It is not only an MSC investment location for the international business community, but also an international cosmopolitan lifestyle centre. So far, there are 12 MSC tenants in i-City, and more are expected to move in by next year.
