M'SIAN DPM: MAS & AIR ASIA MUST LOOK AT A WIN-WIN FORMULA TO COMPETE GLOBALLY

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia must
come up with a win-win formula to start on a strategic collaboration that will
enable both the airline companies to compete at the global level.

Making this call, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said MAS
and AirAsia would need to come together strategically even if they were two
competing airlines especially in the area of low cost and average air fares.

Responding to a question from the media on the possibility of such a
cooperation between MAS and AirAsia, Muhyiddin said it was up to the management
and chief executive officers of both the companies to hold their discussions.

"This is because we understand that this would be a form of business and
healthy business competition that we greatly encourage," he told a press
conference following the launch of the "Teach for Malaysia" programme here
Friday.

"This is because I am aware that Air Asia is still not satisfied as several
routes requested by them have yet to get the endorsement or cooperation from
MAS, namely three main routes," he said.

Muhyiddin said he was confident that if these issues were discussed, the
Malaysian airline companies would be able to move forward and more importantly
be able to compete.

On the issue of nuclear development, he said no decision had been made and
the programme was not something to be implemented in a hurry.

"We will gather the views of various parties as we realise that this is a
new initiative and we might have to study even deeper based on the experiences
of the countries that have successfully started such projects," he said.

Meanwhile, on the Teach for Malaysia programme, Muhyiddin said the programme
was based on the concept of serving while teaching, a concept mooted by the
"Teach for All" global network that gives the opportunity for outstanding
graduates to serve the nation by teaching following their graduation.

Participants under the programme will be placed at challenging schools with
a high demand for teachers beginning January 2012.

"We should take pride as Malaysia will be the first country in South-east
Asia and the third in Asia after India and China had successfully implemented
this important initiative," he said.

Muhyiddin said the focus of the programme would be to provide high quality
teachers to challenging schools and that it was also closely linked to the
government policy to develop high quality human capital under the 10th Malaysia
Plan.
-- BERNAMA