KUALA LUMPUR – Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak is perplexed as to why no “supertaxes” are imposed on the country’s glove companies, which have made huge profits amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I could never understand why in Malaysia, glove companies have made billions in super profits from the pandemic, and yet, are not imposed supertaxes to help pay for the cost of the pandemic,” he said in his keynote address at the Genesis Forum 2021, held virtually, today.
The former CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chairman said taxation systems have to be more progressive so as to provide effective safety nets and redistribution policies.
He said governance frameworks should encourage, or even ensure, greater diversity on boards, not just in terms of gender, but also age, ethnicity and background, so that companies are more in tune with today’s society.
“One of the last things I proposed as CIMB Group chairman was to always have a young, under-30 member on the board.
“Unfortunately, I ran out of time.”
Nazir retired as CIMB Group chairman in October 2018, having served Malaysia’s second-largest commercial bank by assets for 29 years, including as group chief executive for 15 years and group chairman since 2014. – Bernama, May 6, 2021