KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 12): Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said Malaysia should develop new revenue sources to support its finances beyond petroleum, proposing the establishment of a national rare earth entity modelled on Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS).
The government itself has acknowledged that Malaysia’s non-radioactive rare earth resources could exceed RM800 billion in value, Hamzah argued, yet the nation still lacks the agility needed to exploit these assets swiftly. The deposits are mainly located in Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis.
“We will share this wealth together and distribute it as fairly as possible to all Malaysians. Establish a body like PETRONAS, which we propose to call RINAS,” Hamzah said while debating Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday. He urged the federal government to examine how the country’s rare earth resources could be developed to generate broader national benefits.
Hamzah’s proposals formed part of his broader call for the government to place greater emphasis on creating economic value and developing domestic resources, alongside allocating expenditure and managing the fiscal deficit.
“We need to move from thinking only about distributing allocations to thinking about creating value,” Hamzah said. He argued that new revenue sources were needed to help service the country’s growing debt burden.
Budget 2027’s total expenditure is set to rise to RM459.8 billion from the revised spending of RM444.1 billion under Budget 2026.
Government-linked investment companies are contributing RM25 billion, public-private partnerships RM11 billion, and statutory bodies and the Ministry of Finance RM14.2 billion for Budget 2027.
On Monday, Hamzah also urged the government to establish a clear roadmap and decision-making timeline for nuclear power, arguing that Malaysia should aim to become an Asean energy powerhouse rather than merely supply inexpensive electricity to foreign data centres.
“We urge the government to set a clear roadmap and timeline from now, by drawing up a legal framework, establishing an independent regulatory body and incorporating nuclear reactor development into national energy planning,” he said.
Although the government appointed MyPOWER to coordinate the programme, Hamzah argued that it had yet to select a technology or set a decision date. He said developing nuclear power generation would help secure the country’s future energy supply.
MyPOWER was designated Malaysia’s Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation in November 2024. Its role is to coordinate preparations as Malaysia evaluates nuclear energy for electricity generation.
“Nuclear reactor development is a long-term strategic investment that we must undertake if we want to achieve energy sovereignty in the future,” Hamzah said. “Energy and rare earths are two engines that could finance Malaysia beyond the petroleum era.”
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