KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — A Bill related to contract governance will be tabled in Parliament as a guide for procedures on procurement and award of contracts, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the proposed Bill is an extension of the existing treasury governance and regulations.

"This is important to avoid leakages, abuse of power and also to provide guidelines, not for the specifications of a service, product or work but from the aspect of price and time frame and the quality of services or goods supplied,” he told reporters after appearing as a guest on RTM’s TV1’s Selamat Pagi Malaysia as well as on the Nasional FM’s programme in Angkasapuri today.

Ahmad Zahid said the enactment of the law is crucial to curb leakages due to corruption, excessive profits or other things that cause the people to be burdened due to non-compliance with set governance.

"The existing one is only in the form of an instruction from the treasury. More importantly, once it is enacted, all governance and management will be bound by the law. If there are some elements of violation, leakage and abuse of power, the offenders will be punished according to the law,” he said.

Regarding the move by some government-linked companies (GLCs) and private companies to take over the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions as outlined in the 2023 Budget, Ahmad Zahid said it does not require the private sector to build new training centres but instead use existing facilities and provisions.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), said that at the same time, this would allow TVET courses to be tailor-made to the workforce in the said companies.

He added that this is important because Malaysia’s labour market needs skilled and high-skilled workers so that the country no longer depends on foreign workers that will burden the country. — Bernama