PUTRAJAYA is not opposed to having a foreign investor in Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“There is this idea that some foreign companies might take a piece (of) MAB,” the prime minister told BFM’s Breakfast Grille programme this morning.

“We are not against the idea, but some people who are very sentimental (are). They want to see MAB owned entirely by Malaysians.

“But there are no Malaysian investors strong enough to take it up.”

He was asked whether the government will allow a foreign firm to have a major stake in the national airline, similar to China automaker Geely’s involvement in Proton.

It was reported last week that Japan Airlines was in talks to acquire a stake in MAB, aided by the close ties between the Malaysian and Japanese governments.

Dr Mahathir said returning MAB to profitability is a difficult task.

“It has not been easy. They (MAB) have done many changes, such as changing the management, retrenchment of 6,000 staff, etc, and yet, the losses remain.

“When MAB was formed, there were no low-cost carriers, (which now have) affected MAB and other airlines.”

He was asked about sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which owns MAB, in a question on government-linked companies competing with the private sector.

Dr Mahathir reiterated that Khazanah should not be conducting business deals.

“The original idea was that Khazanah should only buy shares not taken up by Bumiputeras. But they have invested in a lot of other things. Some of these are not part of their core business.

“Khazanah should dispose of their non-core business, and we can benefit from these disposals.

“They should stick to their core business. Entering business deals is not something they should do. MAB is one of those investments they made.” – September 17, 2019.