WHEN e-government expert Yip Kong Ban visited Kuwait five years ago, its officials asked if his IT company could import Singapore's e-government model to the oil-rich emirate in double quick time.

'We took 25 years. They wanted to do it in five years,' Mr Yip, 43, the general manager of e-government consulting at NCS told The Straits Times in a recent interview.

NCS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SingTel, went on to clinch two contracts worth a total of US$1.3 million (S$1.9 million) as a consultant to streamline Kuwait's public services and set up a website for the public and businesses to transact with government.

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