[Rencana ini pula tidaklah begitu 'ummph' sangat cumanya perhatikan Halim Saad akan terlepas begitu sahaja walaupun telah menebuk sebegitu gila dana dari bank-bank dengan mudahnya serta meninggalkan bertimbun masalah kepada negara dan generasi depan Malaysia.

Azman cuma memburu dan melenyapkan hutang - bukannya orang. Ini tidak akan menjamin selamatnya dana atau bank di masa hadapan. Mahathir tidak ikhlas kerana akarumbi masalah dan penyangak besar dilepaskan.
- Editor]

http://www.feer.com/2001/0110_18/p081money.html

INTERVIEW: AZMAN YAHYA

Malaysia's Debt Buster

Meet the man who regards it as his mission in life to investigate and straighten out the crippling debt problems of his country's biggest corporations

Issue cover-dated October 18, 2001

AZMAN YAHYA, 37, is a London-trained accountant and former banker entrusted with sorting out Malaysia's systemic debt problems. As head of Danaharta, the state asset-management agency, he's resolved 74% of the 46 billion ringgit ($12 billion) in nonperforming loans that the agency bought from the banking system after the Asian Crisis.

Now he's been entrusted with the task of cleaning up the corporate sector. He began with a 3-billion-ringgit state-backed buyout of United Engineers, or UEM, the linchpin of the Renong conglomerate. Renong has more than 20 billion ringgit in debt, and is seen as a barometer of Malaysia's progress in corporate restructuring. When he has finished that, he proposes to tackle a further 20 billion ringgit of seemingly intractable debt at another five companies. The newly appointed head of Malaysia's debt workout agency, the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee, sat down with REVIEW correspondents S. Jayasankaran and Lorien Holland to explain why he's doing what he's doing:

WHAT NOW FOR UEM?

We've got over 97% and it's in the process of being delisted. We'll complete the compulsory acquisitions and then, by the end of the year, we'll announce how the whole [Renong] group will be restructured. We hope to complete it in six months.

WHAT ABOUT RENONG'S FORMER BOSS, HALIM SAAD?

It's not personal. The government was approached by certain institutional investors to do something about the group's huge debt. There was a possibility the group would default. As a policy, the government looks for private-sector solutions to private-sector problems, and only when there is no other choice do they go in. There was no private-sector solution here. And that's why we had to go in. It's not a bailout. There are some risks involved. And the price is fair to minorities but not so much as to be excessive. We had to have a price that was attractive to minority shareholders but not too high as to be seen as a bailout.

IS THERE A MORAL TO THIS STORY?

Companies should have good governance. In the future, I don't think you'll see entrepreneurs building up so quickly though debt. You'll see more institutionalization of companies.

IS THIS THE END OF THE "MALAYSIAN" BRAND OF CREATING ENTREPRENEURS?

No, but I think the process will become more selective. Certainly, bankers will become more cautious. Inevitably, market forces will reduce the number of some types of organization. It's no longer possible for people to borrow 3 billion ringgit and go ahead with a project. You are going to have a reduction in the number of highly leveraged individual businessmen.

BUT WHAT ABOUT NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
OBJECTIVES, IN THE SENSE OF CREATING AN ETHNIC MALAY COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CLASS?

In UEM's case, some of the assets will be sold to institutional interests that reflect Bumiputra interests like the National Equity Corporation, or the Pilgrims' Fund Management Board. The New Economic Policy can be served not only by the individual entrepreneur approach, but also by following the traditional model of institutional investors like the National Equity Corporation or the Pilgrims' Fund Management Board.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO RENONG?

We will keep some of the core businesses like expressways and dispose of the rest in a market-friendly manner. But we haven't really identified which to keep. We'll know by the end of the year. The process of sale is being worked out. We will probably use competitive bidding.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECTS TO RESTRUCTURING UEM/RENONG?

The biggest problem was the level of debt, as there are over 20 billion ringgit in debts. The other problem is the interlinking between companies in the group. There are crossholdings that need to be sorted out and taking UEM private is the start of this process.

IS THERE A NEW APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT?

Yes, in the sense that we want competent, honest and professional managers to run organizations. Most of them are also young, so that's why you see all these changes at the Employees Provident Fund, Danaharta, UEM and Malaysian Resources. We are taking people from the private sector to run these businesses and we're separating the powers between the chairman and the chief executive officer. It makes for better governance. We're moving towards the institutionalization of professional management who will be rewarded by reasonably generous stock options. This will alleviate the problems of owner-managers who have their own debt problems.

WHAT'S YOUR MAIN JOB NOW?

Running the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee. We're working flat out and hope to close shop by the end of July. I don't want to prolong its life. This slowdown will have an effect, making it slightly more painful from shareholder and banker perspectives. But when you've got to restructure, you've got to restructure; you can't wait for better times. First will come the problems of the two light-rail transit systems. At over 6 billion ringgit, they represent 1.5% of all nonperforming loans. We'll take it out by year end.

The Lion group has already submitted a proposal, that's endorsed by us, to the Securities Commission. Then there is Johor Corporation and the DRB-Hicom group, which is more or less done. Our new policy is to give an immediate announcement on a restructuring and then give quarterly updates. There will be complete transparency. Going forward, I expect most of the big ones to be in place by the end of the year.

A LOT OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS BASICALLY NATIONALIZATION. ONLY THE MARKET SEEMS TO RESPOND POSITIVELY. HOW COME?

It's not nationalization per se. OK, it has some government flavour but we've made it clear that some of the assets will be offered to the private sector, so in that sense, it's an interim measure. Some of the others are strategic investments: someone has to make sure that these services [like transport and sewage] aren't disrupted. We didn't want to do it but that's what had to be done. And we've got very favourable responses from foreign fund managers. We're serious about cleaning up the corporate sector and this is an opportunity.

WHY DID YOU WAIT SO LONG?

At the depth of the crisis, it would have been very painful to carry out most of these corporate reforms. Look at what happened in Thailand and Indonesia. We struck a balance between economic efficiency and social dislocation. Only now is there an opportunity for us to drop excess baggage.

HOW ABOUT FOREIGNERS? CAN THEY COME IN?

Well, already there has been a relaxation of the Foreign Investment Committee rules. I'm very confident that foreigners will be allowed to participate in any sale of assets.

WHAT ABOUT YOU PERSONALLY? ARE YOU GOING INTO POLITICS? THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF
RUMOURS THAT YOU'RE BEING EYED FOR FINANCE MINISTER.

Yes, there are all sorts of rumours. I'm not interested. I'd rather be a race driver. But I'll probably go back to a banking and IT-related business.