ZAID IBRAHIM SAYS KHAZANAH BOARD SHOULD ALL RESIGN

 I have been saying for many years that Khazanah Nasional should be unwound. I have a quick question. Khazanah Nasional has invested in many companies in which the EPF has also invested funds. Khazanah Nasional can only earn as much dividends as EPF does from their investments in the same companies. 

In terms of Returns on Assets (which is different from Returns on Investments) from such common investments, how much more does Khazanah Nasional earn compared to say the EPF? It should be the same. So  why not just let EPF "hold" investment assets for the gomen? EPF can be a "pension fund manager" for private sector employees as well as a fund manager for the gomen. Tak payahlah Khazanah. They are both passive investors anyway.

Anyway here is a comment from Zaid Ibrahim about Khazanah Nasional that has gone viral. It was sent to me by a former Advisor to one of our many prime ministers. My comments follow:

My Comments :

I want to repeat what I have been saying. And can the Opposition MPs (especially Wan Ahmad Fayhsal the MP for Machang and Youth Chief of Bersatu) please take this up.

The talk about Hamas and Israel is just a deflection. It is to deflect the peoples' attention away from other things that may be going on.

I said it before and Tun Dr Mahathir has also repeated what I said  - is there an "udang di sebalik batu" that we are not aware of - behind selling stakes in our prime assets to foreigners including Americans and Arabs?

The airport business is a monopoly business. 
It is highly profitable and churns out hundreds of millions  of Ringgits in profit. 
It is a Ringgit business, it is part of the domestic economy.
It is not an export business.

So why sell big stakes in this type of monopoly business to Americans, Arabs or any foreigners?

If you cannot understand this question, ponder this other example : do you think our rice monopoly billionaire will agree to sell down 30% of his monopoly rice business to the Arabs or the Americans?  I dont think so.

Let me ask these duds another simple question - do you think the Arabs will sell YOU a stake in their domestic monopolies that are making tons of profits? Do you think the Arabs will sell you 30% of Abu Dhabi International Airport? The answer is NO. No they will not. So what is wrong with you?

Where did you learn business? Bawah pokok asam ke? 

If the Americans or Arabs want to invest here let them :

1. bring in their own money (no borrowing money here)
2. bring new technologies that we dont have
3. create new high value job opportunities that we dont have
4. open up new international markets overseas for Malaysian products

There is no cleverness in selling a stake to the Americans or the Arabs in a GLC which holds a highly profitable monopoly (or an oligopoly)  in our domestic market.

So what is the real reason behind selling these stakes in a highly profitable, domestic monopoly  to the Americans, Arabs etc. Is there an udang di sebalik batu?

Our opposition MPs need to press this matter further.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.