FORMER finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin expressed his support for the mega merger of CIMB Group Holdings, RHB Capital Bhd and Malaysia Building Society Bhd, saying when he was in office, he suggested that Malaysia only needs four banks.
“I suggested that we should have only four banks but people lobbied and the government agreed with eight,” said Daim, referring to the call by the government, as early as the 1990s, for banking institutions to merge after being badly hit by the 1985-1986 recession and during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.
“Banks need a large capital base to compete globally and this could be achieved through mergers,” said Daim.
Daim, 76, was answering questions from the audience after delivering a talk entitled “Politics and the Business Community — A Holy Alliance or A Devil’s Pact?” organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd, here, yesterday.
Earlier, the packed ballroom applauded the former Umno treasurer for continuing with his speech despite being unwell.
About half an hour into his talk, Daim appeared wobbly at the rostrum. Those near the stage rushed to help him to his seat where he rested for a few minutes before continuing to speak and answer questions for another 30 minutes.
He apologised, saying it was because of his medication
Daim said that he was confident that the Vision 2020 would be achieved, with proper planning and hard work.
However, he said, a high income nation need not necessarily mean a developed nation.
“Being a high-income nation is not enough. Otherwise countries like Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be that by now. We need to be a fully industrialised economy,” he said.
To do this, the country needs to prioritise quality education and technological advancements.
“We started with commodities as our base but no country in the world has become a developed nation with agriculture. We need to be industrialised,” he said.
Daim also said that Malaysia is not fully utilising its pool of talent to drive economic growth.
“We have many talented Malaysians but we have foreigners advising us. We need to trust our own people as we understand our country and our needs best.
“We need to compare ourselves with the best, not the worst, in order to compete. We have the numbers but not the quality and this needs to change.
“Productivity must be high and avoid wastage and corruption. With good and hardworking
people, we will get there,” Daim said.
Commenting on the present
government structure, Daim
pointed out that there should a different leader helming the Finance Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), which is under the Prime Minister’s Department.
“If the EPU, which does the planning, and the Finance Ministry, which looks for the money, is led by the same person, it can be quite difficult as there will not be any check and balance.
“There should be room for improvements and criticisms but this cannot happen if the same person helms both. Developed countries do not practise this in their governments,” he said.
Speaking on a wide range of topics, Daim captivated the audience with his vast knowledge and quick wit.
He also spoke on the need to consider the people’s views and doing right by them when making decisions that affect them.
On affordable housing, Daim added that although the supply of such houses is abundant, the public should have the means to buy them.
“If the public is not able to buy them as their income is not sufficient, it still defeats the purpose of affordable houses.
“If the government is efficient, housing development approvals could be expedited and holding costs to the developers reduced... in turn, house prices could go down,” he said.