No decision yet on foreign appointments
Azmin: Khazanah is discussing the matter
KUALA LUMPUR: There is no decision yet on having foreigners on the board of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, says Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
He, however, pointed out that the state-owned investment arm needed a strong representation on the board of directors who were familiar with the issues.
“We need a professional team to run and manage the board,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2018 here yesterday.
“We had the first board meeting about a month ago, no discussion to that effect. We will continue to dis- cuss the matter.”
On Khazanah’s investment, he said there would be changes in the investment mandate to address the current challenges.
“Among the programmes that we need to speed up is on research and development as well as green investment,” he said.
It was reported yesterday that Khazanah could see some foreign appointments to its board of directors as part of its strategy to tap on diverse expertise.
According to sources, one of these appointments could be that of a Chinese national who is the founder of one of China’s largest artificial
We need a professional team to run and manage the board. We had the first board meeting about a month ago, no discussion to that effect. Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali
intelligence firms which has the backing of e-commerce giant, Alibaba.
One source said that if it materialised, the appointment would also largely be in line with Khazanah’s emphasis on Chinese investments.
According to a May report by Khazanah, one of its first forays overseas was into China where in 2005, it bought close to a 10% stake in the then biggest retailer in China, Parkson.
The investment arm also has an office in Beijing, one of the six overseas offices that it opened since its formation in 1994.
The other new board appointments could likely be corporate figures from the US and Japan, the source added.