The meeting was chaired by Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, Adviser to PETRONAS and was attended by the other members of the Advisory Committee namely Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi, Chairman of Sarawak Energy Berhad; Dato’ Ahmad Fuad Md Ali, Executive Chairman of FPSO Ventures Sdn Bhd; Dato’ Dr Rajah Rasiah, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Asia Europe Institute, University Malaya;
and Dr Yeah Kim Leng, Professor of Economics at Sunway University Business School.
The Advisory Committee’s primary roles are, amongst others, to advise the Finance Minister on ways and means to increase the nation’s revenue base and reduce the operating expenditure. The Advisory Committee will also advise the Finance Minister on:
• matters related to subsidies, including reviewing and restructuring existing subsidies, and the provision of more holistic social protection,
• matters related to Government Linked Companies (GLCs), including determining their relevance in the current context and consolidating them where appropriate, and
• matters related to national debt and good governance.
The Advisory Committee reports directly to the Finance Minister, and shall meet as frequently as possible depending on requirement.
A secretariat to support the operations of the Advisory Committee has been formed and is located at the PETRONAS Twin Towers. Tan Sri Hassan in his capacity as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee has also invited Puan Nurul Izzah Anwar to co-head the secretariat together with Encik Khairil Anuar Ramli.
** Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican is the Chairman Advisory Committee to Finance Minister.
** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.
