Khazanah calls for reopening of international borders

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has called for international borders to reopen to revive the tourism sector, which in turn will help to boost Malaysia Airlines operations and leisure activities under its stable of investments.

Managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir emphasised that the sovereign wealth fund is focusing on improving Malaysia Airlines operations to ensure yields are maintained and that the airline remains profitable.

"The amount of support that the airline will have depends on whether it can resume its activities; it can only resume its activities if people are allowed to travel and we are really hoping that international borders would reopen, the sooner, the better," he said during his first annual briefing on Khazanah Annual Review 2022 here today.

Khazanah's operating profit fell to RM670 million in 2021 from RM2.9 billion in 2020, mainly due to the financial assistance being extended to Khazanah's airlines and tourism companies still weathering headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its profit was also impacted by lower fair value gains and lower dividend income from investee companies on the back of subdued 2020 earnings.

Amirul Feisal noted that the reopening of state borders helped to mitigate the effect of the prolonged closure of the international borders.

"The moment state borders reopened and people could go for holidays, occupancies had shot up.

"Since the international borders are closed, a lot of affluent Malaysians who tend to go overseas for their holidays suddenly discovered all these local gems," he said.

Amirul Feisal said Khazanah remained open to collaboration on Malaysia Airlines but the focus remained on its turnaround plan and operations.

On the possibility of the disposal of its stakes in Malaysia Airlines, he said Khazanah would need to scrutinise the proposals for the exercise.

"It is about what value will anybody bring to the table. That is the main question," he said.

-- BERNAMA