Newly-minted Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani has made 1MDB one of his priorities, and pledged to resolve the state investment fund's problems transparently.

"I will try my best to resolve it professionally, transparently and make sure we move on to develop this country," he told Malaysiakini.

"From now on and in the future, we will strengthen good governance in the government and ensure proper check and balance in all government investments."

He also promised that the government would address the issues raised in the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) report on 1MDB.

"What had been raised in PAC report - whatever or whoever that caused (problems in) 1MDB - definitely action will be taken," he said.

However, he was unable to promise that public funds would not be used to resolve 1MDB's troubles.

"Well, basically I can't give you assurance. At the end of the day, we will try our best to resolve it without touching anything from the government."

Johari said this was why the government hoped 1MDB's projects, Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Bandar Malaysia, would recover their value once they were developed.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar had previously said she believed the people will be made to pay for 1MDB's mismanagement, after Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company filed an arbitration claim against it for US$6.5 billion.

'Najib didn't brief me on 1MDB'

The first-term Titiwangsa parliamentarian surprised many when he was made a full minister on July 27, barely one year after he was appointed deputy finance minister on July 28, 2015.

Johari also revealed that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also finance minister, had not personally briefed him on 1MDB ahead of his appointment.

"In fact, my appointment came as a shock to me because I only knew (it) on the day of the announcement," he said.

While he acknowledged 1MDB's problems were caused by wrong business model, weak management and poor governance, the businessman-turned-politician defended the need for a strategic fund.

He likened 1MDB to the controversial Perwaja Steel, a joint venture between government-owned Heavy Industries Corporation and Japanese company Nippon Steel Corporation in 1982.

"I think we need to resolve the problem in front of us, just like the (Bank Negara) RM30 billion forex (losses) and Perwaja," he said.

"Perwaja was a strategic (investment), but unfortunately the business model could not be sustained, that's why Perwaja suffered RM10 billion losses," he said.

"Likewise with 1MDB, the (government's) idea was to set up a strategic company to develop unutilised land. And, along the way we deviated from what it was supposed to be and it turned into an investment entity."

Johari said a strategic investment was not necessarily profitable, citing the mass rapid transit (MRT) project as an example.

He also denied that the government would wind up 1MDB, as was widely reported following the dissolution of 1MDB's board of advisers. However, most of the trouble fund’s assets had since been taken over by the Finance Ministry.