23 GLCs divested

PETALING JAYA: Among the 33 target government-linked companies (GLCs) which have been identified for divestment, only 23 companies of which have been successfully divested as of November last year, according to the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) annual report 2013.
Its divestment exercise which involved the sale of (GLCs) ownership in public-listed companies and other entities, will see government and state-owned assets also be divested accordingly.
However, the government will continue to hold assets which are deemed strategic to national interest or public service delivery.
Of those identified strategic companies, the government will adopt less invasive strategic control methods such as golden shares, which award a shareholder special voting rights and veto power over corporate actions.
The government will also formulate appropriate policies to protect those industries.
"The government has identified national infrastructure projects such as renewable energy and public transport systems as those which warrant its (private) participation," said the report.
According to the report two companies under Ministry of Works and One company under Ministry of Federal Territories divested failed to divested last year.
In October 2013, Khazanah Nasional Bhd sold all its stake in the mobile phone operator DiGi.Com Bhd at RM293.5 million.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports also divested Stadium First Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Stadium Malaysia Corporation, through an open tender process. The divestment was completed in June last year.
The report highlighted that the main challenge to the sale of government's stake in the GLCs is the need to balance the fiduciary duties of incumbent owners with market conditions, which may impact pricing.
Going forward, the strategic reform initiatives (SRI) will continue to monitor the companies under the government's divestment programme, in line with the government's efforts to facilitate a competitive environment for business and to strengthen the private sector's role in driving the economy.