The Government-Linked Companies (“GLC”) and Government-Linked Investment Companies (“GLIC”) Disaster Response Network (“GDRN”), together with various partners, are working and coordinating together to streamline GLC and GLIC’s support to assist the Ministry of Health (“MoH”) in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GDRN is managed by a Joint-Secretariat led by Yayasan Hasanah (“YH”) (a foundation of Khazanah Nasional Berhad) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (“TM”).

The collective early contributions stand at RM40 million from several GLCs, GLICs and private sector entities to support the various humanitarian and medical related initiatives.

Of the RM40 million, RM17 million has been pledged directly to the GDRN to support MoH to purchase medical supplies, PPEs and ventilators. The companies pledging to GDRN towards MoH support are:

1. Affin Bank Berhad
2. CIMB Bank Berhad
3. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP)
4. Permodalan Nasional Berhad
5. Sime Darby Property Berhad
6. Pharmaniaga
7. Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)
8. Telekom Malaysia
9. TIME dotcom Berhad
10. Yayasan Hasanah
11. Yayasan Sime Darby
12. Yayasan UEM

The RM17 million allocation will be primarily focused on the provisions of medical supplies which includes Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and ventilators to meet the needs of MoH and all public as well as institutional hospitals. The coordination and implementation of procurement, handling, warehousing and distribution will be done through Pharma Niaga Berhad.

“We strongly feel that our support should be better coordinated to avoid duplication of efforts and redundancy of supplies. We hope that this platform will enable a more streamlined approach to assist MoH and the nation during this difficult time. Currently Yayasan Hasanah is coordinating the efforts with GLCs and GLICs under the banner of the GDRN and welcome all private sector to also extend their support towards this joint efforts", said Shahira Ahmed Bazari, Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah.

In addition to the pledge above, several GDRN members had early on implemented several relief support totalling approximately RM23 million and these include distribution of food supplies, hygiene kits and medical equipment to hospitals including Pusat Kesihatan Daerah; universities who are still housing students on campus; and to the Surveillance Center that is being managed by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA). Several GDRN members have also mobilised their volunteers.

GDRN’s commitment to support the fight against COVID-19 will continue beyond the Movement Control Order (“MCO”) period as it plans to assist vulnerable and B40 communities who have been impacted by COVID-19 in the longer term. This is in line with the purpose of the GDRN’s formation, which is to ensure holistic response in the short, medium and long term in times of disasters as witnessed by its support across the country between 2013 to 2019.

While efforts through GDRN and by individual GLC, GLIC and private sector companies will continue, interested parties/organisations which wish to contribute via GDRN and Yayasan Hasanah can be in touch with the following point persons:

• Anita Ahmad
  Head, Community Department and Humanitarian Disaster Relief, Yayasan Hasanah
  Mobile: +6019-2782707
  Email: anita.ahmad@hasanah.my
   
• Izad Ismail
  Head, Corporate Responsibility & External Stakeholders Management, Telekom Malaysia Berhad & Head, GDRN Secretariat
  Mobile: +6019-3366035
  Email: izad@tm.com.my

The GDRN was created in 2013 through the Putrajaya Committee for GLC High Performance (“PCG”) with Khazanah Nasional Berhad as its Secretariat. The network was successfully deployed between 2013 and 2016 in various relief and reconstruction work, especially for the major floods that occurred in Kelantan, Pahang, and Johor, amongst others. Since 2014, the GDRN Secretariat is led by Telekom Malaysia Berhad, as the Successor Entity to the PCG.