PUTRAJAYA, June 15 — The Finance Ministry (MOF) has detected irregularities in government tender procurement processes through the practice of tailoring tender specifications to favour specific vendors, said Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican.
There have been incidents in which the tender process initially appeared competitive, but evaluations of financial and technical aspects ultimately left only one qualified company because the set specifications were skewed toward a particular vendor.
As such, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, has halted the practice of direct negotiations for government tender procurements.
"Now, almost all procurements are executed via tender. However, as we all know, Malaysians can be quite creative when all tenders are implemented.
"We are seeing many incidents where the tender looks good on paper, but after financial and technical evaluations, only one bidder remains because all the specifications were tailored toward a single vendor," he said during his opening speech at the 2026 Malaysian Statutory Bodies Conference today.
Also present were Public Service Department Deputy Director-General (Development) Datuk Mohd Bakhari Ismail and Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Others in attendance included Universiti Teknologi MARA Vice-Chancellor and President of the Association of Statutory Bodies of Malaysia (PBBM) Prof Datuk Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin, and Malaysian Palm Oil Board Director-General Datuk Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir.
Johan added that this issue has been detected repeatedly across several agencies and that Anwar is taking a firm stance against these occurrences.
"I would not mention this if it had only happened once. The MOF tracks these matters, and this is happening across various agencies, including the MOF itself. On this issue, the Prime Minister is taking a strict stand as part of the agenda to reform government procurement governance," he said.
Johan noted that the government has passed the Government Procurement Bill 2025, which strengthens accountability and enforcement actions.
"Previously, government procurement issues were treated merely as administrative matters; if someone had retired, no action could be taken against them. But now, with the Government Procurement Bill, even I am not safe after retirement.
"I could also face punitive action if I commit any irregularities in government procurement. That is among the approaches to enhance procurement regulations and governance," he said.
Meanwhile, Johan said that statutory bodies serve as key institutions within the country's administrative and development landscape.
"The role they play involves not only delivering services to the people but also driving the nation's economic development, innovation, education, investment, and social well-being," he said.
Themed "Statutory Bodies and National Aspirations: Shaping the Future," the conference — organised by PBBM in collaboration with MPOB and the Majlis Amanah Rakyat — serves as a strategic platform to discuss the role of statutory bodies in supporting the national development agenda by strengthening governance, leadership, organisational transformation, public sector reform, and service digitalisation.
