Malaysia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it has lifted a freeze on procurement funds for Malaysian Armed Forces assets after restructuring measures aimed at preventing leakages and misuse of funds. Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said all military asset procurement matters are now proceeding as planned. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Khaled said the freeze was imposed after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered a temporary halt on 2026-01-16 to procurement decisions involving the armed forces and police linked to corruption allegations, until procedures were fully complied with. He said the ministry had since been in talks with the Finance Ministry to make sure critical operations and military preparedness were not affected. [1, 2, 3, 4]
"There is no longer any freeze because we have carried out restructuring measures that can ensure there are no leakages, misuse of funds, and related issues," Khaled said. Chinese-language reporting carried the same message, saying all procurement-related matters had returned to normal. [1, 3]
The ministry also said it was monitoring procurement closely because of a global supply crisis. It said the National Economic Action Council had asked it to propose how the defence sector could adapt to supply-chain disruptions and conflicts in West Asia and the Middle East. The ministry said strengthening local defence industry capabilities is a priority, including through an asymmetrical warfare approach. Khaled said that approach means producing local goods in large quantities at low cost and building in information technology and electronic systems. [1, 2, 3, 4]
On a separate case, Khaled said the investigation paper for a 25-year-old soldier from the 22nd Commando Regiment who was injured at Kem Iskandar in Mersing had been submitted to the Deputy Public Prosecutor. [1, 3, 4]
