A number of funds under the Ministry of Finance Inc set up to explore new businesses are set to be reorganised due to their poor performance, according to a report.

The Star cited funds such as Venture Capital Management Bhd (Mavcap), Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV), Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology (Might), Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Green Technology Corp (MGTC).

The reshuffle follows discovery that some of the funds are unable to pay back the amounts due to the government, even after many years of restructuring efforts.

Mavcap, for example, has been unable to pay the government an outstanding RM112.7 million that is due from the allocation made during the 8th Malaysia Plan (2001 to 2005).

The English daily cited a source as saying Mavcap had proposed to repay the amount using the balance of RM163.6 million from the 9th Malaysia Plan loan account.

“Following the full payment of the 8th Malaysia Plan loan, the shortfall was required to be recovered through obtaining a lump sum of RM55mil from the 11th Malaysia Plan allocation.

“In addition, Mavcap intended to apply to the Ministry of Finance for a new allocation of RM100mil under the 2019 Budget measures,” the source was quoted as saying.

Mavcap is the venture capital firm behind the contentious 1Malaysia email project of 2011, which DAP at the time accused of being an attempt to milk money out of a process that should be free.

Another fund, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (Magic), is being reviewed to gauge its relevance, The Star cited a source as saying.

Magic was established to enable an entrepreneurial ecosystem to accelerate the formation and growth of start-ups.

According to the report, the Pakatan Harapan government has placed funds such as Mavcap and those named earlier under the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry, led by Yeo Bee Yin.