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, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid 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 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 address at the ministry's mandate ceremony here today.
Ahmad Zahid said several subsidiaries under the ministry were closed last year as they were not making profit and the list of companies will 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 norminal 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 is 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 as being implemented by the ministry.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid in his address said the Desa MADANI aspiration had been conceived based on the acronym of the ministry (KKDW) which is skills (kemahiran) and knowledge (pengetahuan); effectiveness and efficiency; data and digital as well as 'wow-factor' as an effort to catalyse the work of its staff.
"We know this ministry is responsible for the progress of rural communities. For that, ministry employees must have a level of understanding and knowledge as well as skills in all issues related to rural development," he said.
He also put forward several approaches and targets that can be used as game-changer and high-impact programmes to be refined and discussed, including Rural to Global (D2G) programme.
"It aims to raise the potential of rural entrepreneurs' products and services to be marketed not only in the country but also abroad," he said. --BERNAMA