Rural ministry's subsidiaries in the red to be closed, says Zahid

PUTRAJAYA: Subsidiaries under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry which are not generating profits will be closed or revamped as the ministry does not want to continue shouldering the burden, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister said he had ordered all chairmen of agencies under the ministry to monitor the performance of their respective entities.

"Please turn them around. Those that are not profitable should find ways to contribute profit to the agency or the ministry.

"If not, my order is to close. This is very important so that we do not have to feed loss-making entities in our organisation,” he said when delivering his Rural and Regional Development Ministry 2024 Address here on Friday (Jan 5).

Ahmad Zahid said several subsidiaries under the ministry had been closed last year as they were not making a profit and the list of companies would be announced in the coming Parliament sitting.

"There were already closures, we also offered management buyout to the management of the companies concerned. We are giving them nominal payment for them to continue if they leave the ministry,” he said in a media conference after the ceremony.

Ahmad Zahid said the move to change or close loss-making subsidiaries was a new model and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had been informed.

He said the Prime Minister also ordered subsidiaries under the Minister of Finance Incorporated to carry out the same approach.- Bernama