KiniBiz Online: Does Selangor need another state investment arm?

By Sherilyn Goh

The Selangor state assembly has been heated over the past few days over the debate on the operations of an obscure state investment arm known as Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG), a new entity incorporated to manage state investments under the purview of the existing Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI).

The main reason for the heated debate is that the DEIG is answerable chiefly to its board of directors headed by the Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali. It is not subject to any state enactments and as a result, is not required to table its financial report to the state legislative assembly, raising concerns on whether there is sufficient check-and-balances in place.

The lack of oversight has struck concern among the assemblypersons, as this had come while the controversy surrounding self-styled strategic development company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which had cooked up RM42 billion in debts, is far from over. 

Incidentally, 1MDB is also a Finance Ministry-owned company reporting to among others, its board of advisers chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak who is currently finding himself embroiled in the 1MDB scandal. 

The virtually unknown state investment arm to-be (at least up until last month), was quietly established as a private limited company under the Companies Act 1965 from as early as December 4, 2014, just three months after Azmin Ali was appointed Menteri Besar. This was following the ‘Kajang Move’ which saw former Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim ousted from office.

Independent Integrity Units a Step Closer to Ombudsmen Enactment

Yesterday I tabled a motion in the state assembly session to urge the State Government to make all the integrity units of the agencies in Selangor fully independent. The motion was subsequently passed. This is a step closer for us to enact Ombudsmen law. Ombudsmen enactment will further strengthen the check and balance system of Selangor legislature. Hopefully we'll see that through before this term ends. If you are interested to know more, see below the full motion speech. 

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My 3 Concerns on DEIG

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, Committee Member of Selangor Statutorary Bodies and Government-Link-Companies (GLCs) Select Committee and State Assemblyperson for Damansara Utama on Wednesday 19 Aug 2015.

We call upon the state government to restrict its involvement in businesses, redefine the role and jurisdiction of Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG) and focus first to establish proper accountability mechanism for Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI).

While we welcome MBI’s plan to consolidate and restructure the 74 GLCs under MBI to ensure the GLCs are run efficiently, we are very concerned with MBI’s proposed method - through the formation of a new state investment company Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG).

100% owned by MBI, DEIG will be the holding company for the 74 GLCs under MBI with a combined land bank of more than 5,000 acre of state lands and a combined asset value of RM6.3 billion. It is to also to be the “investment holding-arm for the state of Selangor.” [1]

Below are my three concerns on this newly formed state investment company.