International Trade and Industry (MITI) Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said of the RM4.5bil, more than RM100mil was handled by Port Klang alone.

"Despite the progress, there is a need to increase the use of EDI by 25 agencies involved in issuing permits to make trade much easier," she said at the agreements signing between CMnet Dotcom Sdn Bhd and Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd, and between CMnet Dotcom Sdn Bhd and SIRIM Berhad in Subang Jaya yesterday.

To date, the use of EDI has been at various levels with MITI being the highest at 35% followed by the Veterinary Department at 20% and SIRIM 15%.

MITI is in the process of using EDI to make textile exporters and importers in Penang and Johor submit applications online and this would be expanded to other areas.

The public sector would continue to develop e-government to better service for public efficiency and cost-effectively while the private sector must be ready to integrate to upgrade performance and competitiveness.

Rafidah said the increase use of EDI was its second phase objective after the first phase was completed in 1998 in Port Klang and the KL International Airport.

She also launched PIACOMx, Malaysia's first infrastructure to offer electronic permit application and approval over the Internet as part of the commerce exchange.

CMnet Dotcom Sdn Bhd executive vice-chairman Indra Gunawan Alamshah said PIAComX has signed up 150 users since last month and e-processing more than 3,000 permits.

CMnet is targetting 5,000 users by end-2002 and expects a revenue of RM35mil by then.

The company has invested RM4mil in PIAComX and plans to invest RM20mil more in the next two years to ensure its continuing operation and upgrade capabilities.