Mara must stay authoritative: Najib

SHAH ALAM: The Council of Trust for the People (Mara) Council should continue to remain an authoritative entity, said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Abdul Razak.
He said if Mara's function was broken into several ministries it would be difficult to focus on implementing programmes involving Bumiputera agenda.
"Nevertheless, we do not know yet what Pakatan Harapan's plan is, we will evaluate ... but the agenda of the bumiputera should continue to be fought effectively.
"Because Mara is a big conglomerate, with many branches and we think it is very important for the future of the bumiputeras," he told reporters after lunch at Pok Usop Ayam Kampung Restaurant in Bandar Setia Alam here today.
Najib said this when asked to comment on the government's efforts to revamp Mara's main activities through the concept of 'isolation and absorption' under several ministries like the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development and the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development.
On the government's plan to restructure Khazanah Nasional Bhd following the resignations of its managing director and board members, he stressed that all these posts did not involve political appointments.
According to Najib, although the board of directors of the national fund company was chaired by the prime minister, all decisions were guided by the advice given by the board of directors and management.
In fact, he said, there was an exco chaired by Khazanah Nasional's deputy chairman and all its members were professionals who had vast experience.
According to Najib, Khazanah's asset was only RM33 billion when he took over, but when he left the company, its assets had surged to almost RM134 billion and its name was known internationally.
"Khazanah also has a bumiputera agenda, for instance, to provide scholarships and provide a place for bumiputera technocrats to manage companies with big assets and also to forge international markets.
"Khazanah aims to increase the nation's assets or wealth so when Khazanah gets profits it declares dividends to the government and the government uses the fund to help the people," he said.
Yesterday, prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported to have said the resignations of the managing director and board members of Khazanah Nasional would allow the government to restructure the company as the new administrative policy was different from the previous administration. — Bernama