SINGAPORE: A win-win situation could result from private companies sharing flight costs with Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s delegation on his recent overseas trips, said analysts and stakeholders.
But they added that the practice could also expose vulnerabilities in Malaysia’s political financing framework, and called for accountability to be improved.
Mr Anwar sparked debate after he told parliament on Thursday (Nov 21) that private companies funded 75 to 80 per cent of his flights over the past two months. He was on official visits to China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Brazil this month.
“If I am not mistaken, around 70 or 80 per cent of the flight costs were borne by companies with business and investment interests,” he said.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry had invited companies like Petronas, oil and gas firm Sapura Energy, automotive firm Proton and semiconductor firms to join his delegation and attend the meetings abroad, said Mr Anwar.
“We invited these companies which had business and investment interests (to join these trips), and they paid for the airfare and costs, while the government helped these companies to either import or export,” said Mr Anwar, as quoted by news outlet Free Malaysia Today.
It is one of his administration’s measures to manage the expenses of overseas trips more efficiently, he said. “We did things differently recently, as I noticed that travel costs were often quite high.”
Mr Anwar was responding to Member of Parliament for Paya Besar Shahar Abdullah during Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s lower house of parliament.
In response to the controversy, government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil clarified on Friday (Nov 22) that private firms did not pay for Mr Anwar’s travels abroad.
The total cost of the chartered Malaysia Airlines plane, an Airbus A350, was RM6.16 million (US$1.38 million) and the Malaysian government covered 27 per cent of the cost, said Mr Fahmi, who is communications minister.
“Meanwhile, the business delegation paid 73 per cent of the cost, or RM4.5 million. So it is important for me to stress that the government paid for the prime minister’s flight,” he said.
Sharing a chartered flight with private sector representatives during the trips was found to be more cost-effective than if the delegation had flown on the Putrajaya’s Jet Premier One on its own, said Mr Fahmi, adding that nearly RM900,000 was saved.
If the government delegation had flown on its own on the Jet Premiere One, which can accommodate only 20 passengers, it would have cost almost three times more, or RM2.5 million, Free Malaysia Today reported.
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