The Malaysian government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional is mulling the privatisation of some government-linked companies to speed up their transformation process, officials said today.

"We are looking at privatising some GLCs (government-linked companies) to speed the (transformation) process ... if all the criteria kick in, we will make the move," Khazanah managing director Azman Mokhtar told reporters.

Government-linked companies released their key operating targets late Wednesday in line with efforts to boost competitiveness.

The companies, which include top bluechips Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional and top lender Maybank, outlined targets for revenue and market share for the next two years.

Khazanah has been working with the Malaysian government to revamp lumbering state firms. He declined to give the names of the GLCs being considered.

He said the transformation process was a long-term one, adding "the recipe after all clearly requires us to do the baking over three years at least, with a target for sustained tangible benefits only between five and 10 years."

Key performance targets

"2006 is also the year where we expect further improvement. While some of these relatively early fruits may be modest...tangible results need to be judged over the medium term," he said.

Azman said the key performance targets announced by the government-linked companies were realistic and the managements of the respective companies were accountable if the targets were not met.

Khazanah, which means "treasure" in Malay, has been charged by the Malaysian government to hold and manage its commercial assets since 1993.

It holds some US$16 billion in assets including struggling carmaker Proton. It has been making investment forays in the region, including a US$327 million takeover of Indonesia's Bank Lippo and the purchase of a stake in Singapore's MobileOne.