The Petronas Vendor Development Programme (VDP) Club today called on the national oil company not to suspend the programme which has been successful in upgrading the skills of local vendors.
Its president, Datuk Ramli Md Nor, said he was informed that a Performance Management and Delivery Unit lab had recently proposed a revamp of the VDP including the possibility of scaling it down and even terminating the programme.
"This programme has so far increased the skills and capabilities of small entrepreneurs in line with the government's initiative to create a business community in the industrial and trading sectors," he told reporters after the club's meeting here.
The VDP was established to produce and develop entrepreneurs involved in high-tech products and components. Presently, there are 30 vendors under the VDP with approximately 10,000 employees.
"We hope Petronas will not suspend the programme or reduce the number of vendors as this decision would possibly force the entrepreneurs to close their businesses," Ramli said.
He said Petronas should instead set short and long-term strategies to significantly improve the VDP further.
A concrete action plan was required to put the companies involved as suppliers, service providers and fabricators in good shape as the industry was very competitive, he said.
He said Petronas should attempt to rectify any hiccups in the programme to allow the vendors to contribute and move up the industry value chain as implemented by other government-linked companies like Tenaga Nasional.
