TNB’s vendor development spending tops RM15 bil

Small and medium enterprises have benefited from TNB’s vendor development programme, says its chairman.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has spent RM15.4 billion on vendor development since 1994, its chairman Leo Moggie said.

The massive shot in the arm for the domestic economy comes in the form of contracts awarded to vendors, including small and medium enterprises.

Moggie said TNB has been strongly involved in supporting the development of local vendors.

“Some of them have progressed and are able to market their products abroad,” he told Bernama.

Since 2014, he said, half of TNB’s procurements have been awarded to local vendors.

Moggie said TNB has also played a key role in human capital development since its establishment in 1951, when it was known as the Central Electricity Board.

Back then, it provided scholarships for Malayan students for courses at the Brighton Technical College in England.

“From that beginning until now, we have maintained provision of scholarships and educational support as one of the major corporate social responsibility components of TNB,” he said.

The utility giant, through the establishment of Yayasan Tenaga Nasional in 1993, has supported more than 10,000 graduates at a cost of over RM1 billion.

Moggie said in addition to the scholarships, TNB has introduced the MyBetterFuture scholarship programme that targets the low-income or B40 group.

The programme, which started last year, has provided 945 B40 students with tuition fees and allowances to ease the burden of their families.

Another contribution in the education sector was the establishment of Universiti Tenaga Nasional in 1997, which has produced more than 20,000 graduates, including Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, he said. -FMT