Govt should not be involved in business, says Johari

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR: A former minister has spoken against the government’s penchant for getting involved in business, saying the focus should be on administering the country.

Citing the example of Malaysia’s 5G rollout, Johari Ghani said the government could have engaged telecommunications companies directly instead of setting up Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), a special-purpose vehicle (SPV).

“In Thailand, when the government decided to implement 5G, it did not set up a 5G entity (SPV). As a result, their rollout was very fast and smooth,” said Johari, who was second finance minister from 2016-2018.

“We (Malaysia) set up a company to deal with the telcos (but) the telcos do not have confidence in the government entity,” Johari told FMT in an interview.

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