Move to corporatise Customs Dept postponed

SINTOK: The move to corporatise the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, scheduled to be implemented this month, has been postponed to allow it to conduct a more detailed study on the move.

Its director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam said he would visit several countries – Australia, South Africa, Singapore and the UK – to see how their customs departments manage their organisations.

“The top management will go to several countries to see their models then we will prepare a Cabinet Paper.

“So there is no decision ... we will examine the possibility of corporatisation because we cannot rush to make any changes ... so it is up to the government (to evaluate) it after we make the report,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters at the ceremony to present executive diplomas in business administration at Universiti Utara Malaysia on Saturday.

On March 13, 2017, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced that corporatisation represented the government’s reward to the department for its excellent performance and its staff would enjoy a better service scheme.

In September, Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said the Customs Department would be corporatised this month following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

On GST collection last year, Subromaniam said, the department achieved the RM42 billion target set, but complete information on the amount would only be announced by the prime minister. – Bernama