KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Tourism Malaysia rejected today former chairman Wee Choo Keong’s allegations of impropriety in the appointment of China’s Tencent Group to promote travel here, insisting the agreement was “clear and transparent.”
Responding to Wee’s criticism over the award for the Smart Tourism project, Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Siew Ka Wei explained that the partnership with Tencent allowed his agency to effectively tap the group’s approximately 980 million Chinese subscribers.
Siew also noted that the agreement was only finalised following extensive consultation with all stakeholders and following a detailed three-month study by Deloitte Consulting.
“Giant local corporations, with important tourism assets have also been engaged in several meetings and this include the Genting Group, Sunway, PNB, Khazanah and Malaysia Airlines,” Siew said in a statement today.
“Without fail, every single stakeholder voiced their support for the platform and looked forward to their participation in the eco-system which gives them FREE ACCESS to the huge China market. None of them will be charged anything for participating in the eco-system.”
The Tourism Malaysia chief also refuted the authenticity of documents Wee posted on his personal blog purportedly of the deal, saying these were early drafts and not the final agreement signed.
“A most telling point that proves that the document shown by him are fakes is when he alluded to the point that there was no cancellation clause in the agreement when in fact there IS a cancellation clause in the final document signed where Tourism Malaysia’s interest are protected.
“In fact, the Tencent Group has no right to cancel while Tourism Malaysia can,” Siew emphasised.
Siew also explained that it was decided at the ministry and Cabinet level that tourism was a major growth contributor that needed prioritisation, hence the fast-tracking of the approval for the agreement that Wee claimed was suspicious.
An initial payment of RM11.9 million for the agreement was also in accordance with the payment schedule drawn up by Tencent, Siew said when controverting Wee’s claim that this was made with an eye on the 14th general election.
Tencent mandated that payment be made by the end of April, failing which the project would suffer a delay of at least six months.
“We have documents to prove that every single sen paid out was paid to Tencent,” he said.
As for Geeko Technology Sdn Bhd, Siew said the company was the collaboration partner of Tencent in Malaysia.
Creative content from the agreement was already being produced, Siew added when noting that a video team arrived in Malaysia on May 9 and was currently filming footage for use in the digital marketing campaign.
Aside from the fake documents purportedly of the agreement, Siew also urged Wee to perform due diligence on the authenticity and accuracy of other claims contained on his blog, saying that the baseless attacks by the former chairman reeked of “bitterness and personal vendetta.”
Among others, Siew noted that a former director-general of tourism was acquitted without having his defence called over a corruption charge, a decision that was upheld on appeal despite Wee’s claim that none was filed.
Wee’s attacks against Tourism Malaysia risked jeopardising efforts to develop an industry that contributes 15 per cent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product and was responsible for employing 23 per cent of the country’s workforce, he added.
“Tourism Malaysia stands by its actions and insists that its administrative actions were made in accordance with proper procedures with full transparency and integrity.
“We welcome any authority to check and verify his claims,” Siew said, adding that Tourism Malaysia would cooperate with any Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into its projects.
Wee told a media outlet today that he intended to lodge a MACC report over the speed with which Tourism Malaysia and Tencent signed the agreement for the online campaign.
