KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has set a lofty target to become a Fortune Global 500 company by 2040.
Felda chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said he wanted the agency to become one of Malaysia's Fortune Global 500 companies in 20 years.
He is optimistic that Felda would be the main leader in the smart agriculture as well as food production sector in the country by taking full advantage of its assets.
With his vast experience and leadership, Idris said he was also confident of providing new ideas and initiatives to revive Felda and enable the agency to emerge stronger than ever before.
Idris, a Member of Parliament of Besut, was appointed as Felda chairman on May 1 this year to replace Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh.
He was Minister of Higher Education from July 2015 to May 2018 as well as former Education Minister II (combined Education Minister and Higher Education) from May 16, 2013.
"It is very possible (to achieve the Fortune 500 target) because over the past 64 years, Felda has attained numerous recognition, on the international stage even, and achieved many successes, including poverty eradication, boosting commodity production and raising standards of living in the rural areas
"I think (it is) not that difficult provided we get the right team of people and right strategy," he said during an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times and Berita Harian.
Felda will adopt a new approach as part of its transformation plan called "Well-formed Outcome" which focuses on five main pillars namely governance, settlers, farm, education and blessings to turn the agency's operations around.
"Felda is an agency that can be likened to a 'gold mine'. We had the largest land reserves (over two million acres) and the value of these lands is always increasing," Idris said.
"Felda also has many settlers which we can see that some of them hold big positions and become one of the successful millionaires and entrepreneurs.
"The close cooperation of Felda's staff combined with management and leadership skills and the use of technology will enable the agency to go further and have a great potential to become a leading leader in the smart agriculture and food production sector in the country," he added.
A special task force had been set up by Felda to conduct a study on the best possible ways to consolidate the authority's finances and sustainability for the benefit of its settlers, he said.
The study is also aimed at working on weaknesses revealed in the White Paper that was tabled in Parliament in April last year.
"This team has conducted engagement sessions with Felda's board of directors, management team, FGV Holdings Bhd and various stakeholder groups for their views and feedback on how to resolve issues related to Felda," he said.
Idris said he had completed a mind plan that charts the direction of Felda with specific targets to solve the agency's problem including cash flow, productivity and debt level.
He said in the next three to five years, the targets to be achieved include increasing settler monthly income to over RM5,000, produce up to 1,000 millionaire entrepreneurs by 2025, increase palm oil extraction rate to 23 per cent and increase farm yields to 25 tonnes per hectare as well as the implementation of smart plantations and integrated.
In terms of education, Idris said Felda would provide skills training and the provision of smart schools.
To apply the element of blessing, he said Felda had plans to set up the first endowment fund called "Felda Endowment Fund" by the end of this year.
"With an initial commitment of 30 per cent from the yearly income earned by Felda, the fund will be aimed at enabling the agency in making a larger impact in the field of education, improvement of the settler community and its management practice," he added.
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