The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) welcomes various new strategies that are being introduced and implemented by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to have greater protection for the contributors. However, we want EPF to maintain high standards of transparency and efficiency in all its undertakings to safeguard contributors’ interests.

MTUC strongly feels that EPF should devise strategic plans for the future and constantly keep the contributors informed over their dealings.

Apart from measures to increase the payout to the contributors, for example higher dividend, MTUC also want to ensure that EPF only invests or lends money to entities that always protect the interest of the workers of Malaysia at large.

As stated under its legal framework, EPF is the guardian of workers’ contributions. Thus it is important that EPF and the Finance Ministry will appoint workers’ representatives to be part of the investment panel, in order to have keep a sharp eye on all their investments. We want EPF to give priority to workers’ views when they make investment decisions.

Currently MTUC only has members on the EPF board. In order to have greater good governance, it is timely to have MTUC’s representative on its investment panel. It is important because EPF’s total investment on equity, bonds and property amounted more than RM468 billion locally and RM118 billion overseas.

It’s therefore of utmost importance that the workers are involved in such investment decisions since this would affect their future. MTUC receives various complaints saying that there are companies known to be anti-workers’ interest and violate labour laws.

As we enter financial year 2017, MTUC want EPF to revise its strategy by not investing in or awarding financial facilities to entities that are not worker-friendly, and it is not fair to use workers’ hard-earned money to help companies that are against workers’ interest. EPF must make sure that we should apply a win-win situation that is favourable to the contributors’ interest, not the other way round.

N GOPAL KISHNAM is secretary-general, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).