Expert: RCI Report Should Serve as Foundation for TH to Strengthen Governance, Restore Public Confidence

KUALA LUMPUR: Tabung Haji (TH) needs to strengthen its institutional sustainability to ensure it is not only able to survive in the long term, but also has a strong governance structure, risk management and investment strategy to protect the interests of depositors.

Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Associate Professor Dr Abdul Rahim Ridzuan said the greatest value of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) Report is to restore confidence through transparency, besides building a stronger system for the community.

“We do not want the RCI to just become a historical report; we want it to become a foundation for reform so that the weaknesses identified do not recur,” he said when appearing as an online guest on the Fokus15 programme produced by Bernama TV titled RCI Tabung Haji: Measuring the Cost of Confidence in the Economy today.

Abdul Rahim said economic growth and confidence in institutions are two aspects that are interrelated and cannot be separated because a strong economy requires trusted institutions.

At the same time, he said, confidence in institutions is easier to defend when economic growth is able to deliver tangible results to the people.

“I see this as an economic chain. Good governance will build confidence, while confidence will attract investment.

“Investment will in turn increase capacity and technology, while technology will increase productivity, thereby creating more high-value jobs and ultimately increasing wages and the people’s purchasing power. This is the economic chain that we aspire to achieve,” he said.

BERNAMA