The surprise announcement by the Immigration Department has pushed some shares of listed companies providing e-government and information technology services lower.
In the latest announcement on Monday, all immigration-related services or processes will be fully managed by the Immigration Department by 2025.
This means that the affairs that are currently handled by third parties such as MY EG Services Bhd (MyEG) will be stopped.
As a result, MyEG shares plunged 31.41% in opening trade on Tuesday to a limit of 65.5 sen per share before paring losses at 73 sen as of midday.
Some other stocks also took a hit, with DataSonic Group losing 7% to 46 sen, while Dagang NeXchange Bhd lost 0.7% to 67 sen.
The director-general of Immigration, Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that the department will launch the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) in an effort to improve the efficiency of the department as well as the customer experience.
In the meantime, Iris Corp Bhd will collaborate in developing, delivering and overall integration of NIISe, under a RM1.12 billion contract.
Iris Corp shares jumped 36% to 17 sen in today's trading session.
