Share
KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday that the alleged loss of RM400 million by Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) in the acquisition of land in Singapore was untrue.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said Ekuinas had an external sourcing programme and the company picked to implement it had yet to make any investments.
“The company concerned is one that is viable in the private equity sector and has undergone a selection process.
“Funding has been provided and will be invested in a company that fulfils the criteria set by Ekuinas and we will have a representative in it,” he said.
Abdul Wahid was responding to a supplementary question from Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), who asked about the problems faced by Ekuinas in acquiring the Singapore land, resulting in the almost RM400 million loss.
Abdul Wahid also dismissed the allegation that the New Economic Policy (NEP) had failed to achieve its objective, terming it a “lack of bumiputera corporate equity achievement”.
“When the NEP was initiated, the bumiputera corporate equity level was at 2.4%, and in 2011 it had risen to 3.5%, which is an achievement of more than 10%,” he said.
He said the policy needs the support and participation of the private sector as the size of the economy involving the public sector was small, that is only 42% of the overall total of RM947 billion last year.
“The public sector economy is much smaller than the private sector. When considering the employment of workers, the public sector only provides opportunities for 1.5 million people, that is 11% of the workforce,” Abdul Wahid said.
He also urged the private sector to play a role in the NEP as it concerns the initiative to move the country towards a high income nation. — Bernama
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 22, 2013.
SHARE
