KUALA LUMPUR: Minister of Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof’s desire to expand his ministry’s portfolio to include investment and trade was never raised during Cabinet meetings, said International Trade and Industry minister Datuk Darell Leiking.
He said his ministry, however, was open to work with other ministries on programmes and initiatives that involved various ministries.
“We do not have to worry about the portfolios of others and when we have cross ministries initiatives, the secretary-generals of the respective ministries can talk to each other and we can work together,” he told reporters after officiating the #LightUpSomethingNice project here yesterday.
Darell also blamed the media for exaggerating the issue which he believed was not Mohd Redzuan’s intention.
“Sometimes, the media likes to hear something and expand (on) it.
Maybe Mohd Redzuan didn’t mean that, I always think (of it) that way,” he said.
On Monday, the media reported that Mohd Redzuan expressed his desire to include investment and trade under his ministry’s purview and that the proposal had received positive response from prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He said the reason for the inclusion of trade and industry was to complement the entrepreneur development portfolio which was his ministry’s mandate.
Meanwhile, Darell said he expected the negative campaign against Malaysian palm oil to continue.
“My take on what we have been reading lately is that there is a concerted effort against Malaysia and one of the biggest campaign against us is about palm oil because they know Malaysia survives on palm oil trade with the rest of the world,” he said.
Nevertheless, Darell said the country’s economic fundamentals remained strong despite the challenges.
#LightUpSomethingNice is a project driven by non-governmental organisation, Zubedy and Friends, to provide electricity in the rural areas of Sabah. — Bernama