Yeo: You don't need to know me, you need to know how

PUTRAJAYA: Knowing the who's who will not help businesses get a government project under the new administration, said Energy, Green Technology, Science and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin (pic).

"In my Ministry, you don't need to know me. You only need to know how.

"Knowing me will not give you an advantage in any project. Make sure you know how," said Yeo in her inaugural town hall session with energy stakeholders on Thursday.

She said the Ministry's role is to create a competitive environment for businesses to thrive, adding that it will be creating a "level playing field" with an open tender system.

"I want to tell you a secret, I am not on the tender board," she said with a laugh.

"I want to listen to you. We want to create an environment where businesses can innovate, invest, where projects can become bankable, so we can have a good ecosystem for our renewable energy to grow," Yeo added.

In the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, the coalition pledged to increase renewable energy from the current 2% to 20% by 2025.

Yeo said that it is essential to make renewable energy affordable and accessible in Malaysia.

She noted that there are still rural areas in Sarawak that still do not have access to electricity.

"We still have kids who do not have light at night to read and to study, and that is not reasonable," she said.

"I know that solar power and micro hydro will be the solution to these kids, we bring light to the rural areas," said Yeo.