KiniBiz goes live today!

Access to KiniBiz, Malaysia's first independent business news portal, is available free of charge to the public for a trial period from today. 

A joint effort by Malaysiakini and well-known business editor P Gunasegaram (right), the portal promises to deliver business newsthat really matters.

It launched today with its first major piece dissecting the MRCB-Gapurna deal, questioning the valuations, with an interview with the MRCB's new top man Mohamad Salim Fateh Din to come soon after.

“We intend to fill market demand for a brave, independent, impartial, informed and insightful business news portal in a format which is easy to access and use,” said Gunasegaram, who is KiniBiz publisher and founding editor. 

“We will break important news stories, come up with features, highlight issues and comment unflinchingly."

The website will champion good corporate governance, accountability and transparency among all participants in the capital markets and in all aspects of business, economy and government. It will also provide a forum for discussion of important business issues, he said.

After the trial period, the site will be available only to subscribers.

"Like Malaysiakini, charging a subscription fee ensures that the site is not totally reliant on advertisers. When readers pay, they become the most important customer," said Premesh Chandran(left), who takes on the role of chief executive officer of Kinibiz, while continuing in the same capacity at Malaysiakini.

KiniBiz.com is owned by KiniBiz Sdn Bhd, with Malaysiakini and Gunasegaram being the owners and shareholders.

It operates out of Malaysiakini’s office in Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur, but with its own editorial team.

Business operations, including advertising and subscription sales, technology development and marketing, will be operated in collaboration with the Malaysiakini team.