KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Integrated Strategic Communications (ISC) founder and chief executive officer Austen Zecha said the advertising agency was forced to lodge a complaint against the Tourism Ministry because it wanted to protect the image of the award-winning “Malaysia, Truly Asia” campaign.
The agency charged on Thursday that it withdrew a bid to renew its contract with the ministry after being asked for bribes in exchange for the deal.
ISC’s complaints against the ministry are already being probed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Zecha (picture) said it was compelling for him to reveal the “ambiguities” faced by the company to the public and politicians so that the relevant authorities would investigate and stop the “irregularities”.
“ISC wants to state for the record that it is proud and honoured to have served all seven previous tourism ministers ever since the beginning of the ministry … and its contractual work on the international thematic branding of ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia’ over the past 12 years,” he said in statement.
“And Tourism Malaysia as a body is not what dismayed ISC’s investors, founders, directors and management, only one or maybe two members of the body have done so, and not just because of the blatant and insulting ‘ambiguity’ or questionable manner impacting on ISC but also the fact that those acts, if not reported, may tarnish its very ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia’ image,” he added.
The agency had said in an earlier press statement that it was rebutting Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen’s denial of “ambiguity” in the tender process for the advertising and promotions contract, worth a total of RM381 million.
Zecha alleged that both he and his deputy were jointly approached on January 19 to “offer the client” (the ministry) a 50 per cent “rebate” or an annual share of the firm’s income from the account.
In exchange, he said, ISC would then “re-win” another three-year Tourism Malaysia contract for the Europe, North America and Oceania tender.
ISC also said that MACC should not be deterred from continuing its investigation due to political pressure, warning that “some parties seem to want to take advantage of what has happened.”
ISC’s had claimed that it had been told by the ministry that it could only bill Tourism Malaysia RM3 million both in 2009 and 2010 for its previous three-year contract for Europe, which was actually worth RM18 million annually.
The MACC raided the offices of Impact Creations and the Tourism Ministry last Friday following ISC’s complaints on the tender process.
Zecha also denied a statement by former Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir that the “Malaysia, Truly Asia” slogan was created by him, insisting that the award-winning campaign was its own initiative. - Malaysian Insider
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.