SHAH ALAM, June 5 — Malaysians should appreciate and cherish the prevailing prosperity and unity in the country, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.   

"For more than 60 years, we have worked together to build the country and we are competing on the global stage as Malaysians,” he told reporters at the Adilfitri open house at Complex Seri Perdana here today. 

He described as extraordinary the ability of Malaysians regardless of their religious background to work together to reach greater heights.

"It is something that we should be proud of,” he said.

On the proposed merger between Axiata Group Bhd and Norway’s Telenor Group, the minister said he would issue a statement once the matter had been finalised. 

Gobind believes the merger would benefit Malaysians in terms of job opportunities; nevertheless he said he would look into the issue of competition and dominance.

Axiata had revealed that it was in talks with Telenor Group to merge operations in Asia. Its president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said the merged entity would be the largest operator in Asean, with a pro forma revenue of RM50 billion and a net profit of RM4 billion.

It was reported that Celcom and Digi will become the largest telco company in Malaysia, following the announcement of the Axiata-Telenor merger. — Bernama