ANNUAL REPORT 2021 25 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS In FY2021, immigration-related services were among certain service segments where growth prospects continued to be somewhat dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to ongoing travel restrictions, which slowed the intake of foreign labour in Malaysia, services related to the immigration space such as work permit applications remained relatively softer during the financial year. Notwithstanding the impact of travel restrictions on labour migration, the Group made notable progress in other immigration-related activities, specifically in the area of worker housing, with the expansion of the MyStay foreign worker accommodation programme. The Group continued to respond to the market demand for appropriate foreign worker accommodation, adding more capacity by bringing onstream new hostel sites during the year. Therefore, in addition to existing facilities in Melaka, which continue to see steady occupancy, the Group completed the acquisition and conversion of shoplots in Port Klang, Selangor, into hostels with the capacity to accommodate nearly 500 workers in FY2021. Operations have since commenced with a strong uptake recorded. Additional land for upcoming hostel projects were also acquired during the year, including in Shah Alam. Meanwhile, government-mandated standard operating procedures (“SOPs”) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic saw restrictions on movement and limitations on physical interaction in certain settings during various periods of FY2021. While these controls had at times disrupted the normal operations of services that require customers to be physically present at specific locations, such as the Group’s driver theory test taking service, on the whole, movement restrictions coupled with heightened health and safety awareness has translated into higher usage of digital channels as the preferred medium of transaction among the public at large. Consequently, MYEG recorded increased online transaction volumes for its concession and commercial services in FY2021. Among these services were the Group’s online motor vehicle road tax renewal, online motor insurance renewal and online driving license renewal services. Given the robust flexibility afforded by MYEG’s business model, we have been able to effectively adapt to the evershifting external environments in which we operate, more so during the pandemic. MYEG has remained proactive in attuning to shifting market forces by continuing to leverage proprietary technologies, systems and platforms to introduce new services in Malaysia and beyond while also maintaining and expanding existing offerings. This is especially evident in the Group’s burgeoning ventures namely in the healthcare space and in the provision of pioneering blockchain solutions. HEALTHCARE SERVICES FY2021 also saw the full contributory effect of MYEG’s healthcare services to Group financial results. Many of these services such as MySafeTravel (“MST”) and the COVID-19 screening programme had been launched in FY2020 (at the onset of the pandemic in Malaysia). The initial penetration into the healthcare sector through pandemic-related services paved the way for a full-scale entry of the Group in FY2021. March 2021 saw MYEG announce its diversification into the healthcare sector through MYEG Medical, the Group’s new healthcare division. The diversification and the subsequent rollout of new product offerings enabled the development of additional and recurring revenue streams for MYEG. Importantly, MYEG could leverage on its existing online platforms to launch new market-oriented services. These include medical screening services, distribution of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products, healthcare devices, the provision of quarantine and quarantine-related services, vaccine verification solutions and more. In January 2021, MYEG’s partnership with Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (“Zhifei”) which was established in FY2020, received support and approval from the Ministry of Health Malaysia (“MOH”) and Clinical Research Malaysia to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine. MYEG, which holds exclusive distribution rights to the vaccine in Malaysia and the Philippines, among other markets, also announced intentions to pursue halal certification for the vaccine. MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS REVIEW OF THE MACRO-OPERATING ENVIRONMENT (CONT’D)
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