Kota Kinabalu: Former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said he was entrusted with two major tasks by then Prime Minister Tun abdul Razak in 1972 – reclaiming oil rights from foreign companies and the takeover of the New Straits Times from foreign ownership.
Around that time, world oil prices soared (because of the Arab oil embargo) but Malaysia could not enjoy the benefits as its oil rights were owned by foreign parties.
To expedite negotiations to return these rights, the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) needed to be urgently enacted.
It was drafted and written by Razaleigh, himself.
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