Opening Address by Dato’ Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik
Opening Address by Dato’ Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik
Minister of Water, Energy and Telecommunications
At the ASLI-SEDAR Roundtable Discussion
Held at CC Meeting Hall, Level 5 Menara PGRM, Kuala Lumpur
On 14th January 2006
Introduction
I am grateful for being invited to present a welcoming address at this Economic Roundtable Discussion jointly organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute and the Sedar Institute. I congratulate the organisers for a job well done. My warmest regards to all distinguished guests, speakers, participants and members of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.
Ladies and gentlemen, this roundtable discussion is timely because in a few weeks time the final draft of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) will be tabled in the parliament for its approval and stamp of endorsement. Before its approval, it is useful for us to reflect on our country’s economic development, progress and achievement in the past years.
We should also put our heads together to note down what are the strategies, policy decisions and implementation possibilities that can be undertaken in order to steer the economy onto the right path of sustainable and equitable growth. The results of this discussion will be useful for policy makers who are present today. I hope the inputs from our imminent speakers and participants can be put into good use in the forthcoming parliamentary debate on the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
Malaysia’s Economic Competitiveness
Ladies and gentlemen, to attain better economic resilience and competitive advantage over other competing regional economies, it is pertinent for us to identify our own weaknesses and to rectify them immediately.
One of these weaknesses is excessive bureaucracy and layers of unproductive red-tape. In the recent World Bank’s report on ‘Doing Business in 2006’, Malaysia is ranked a respectable overall 21st out of 155 economies worldwide in the Ease of Doing Business Index.
However, a closer look at the report revealed apparent weaknesses in our ranking. Malaysia is ranked 57th in the Starting a Business category and a lowly 101st position in the Dealing with Licenses category. Our neighbours, both Singapore and Thailand, are ranked way above us in both categories.
I hope the government can take cognizance of the results of this report which is well received by investment analysts and investors worldwide. In a nutshell, our economy performance in the World Bank’s report is mediocre.
We articulated the need of developing entrepreneurial spirit in the country but the fact remains that it is not so easy to start a business here. Obviously this does not go down well with our effort to encourage more private investment especially in new growth areas such as ICT, biotechnology, outsourcing and others.
On the other hand, we are bogged down by an old licensing regime which is cumbersome and archaic, for example the Industrial Coordination Act 1975. In our quest to woo more private and foreign capital into our economy, I believe that continuous economic liberalisation is necessary to remove licensing obstacles which are unproductive and costly. Today’s business world hails speed, accuracy, consistency, quality service and dependable support from the relevant authorities.
The Malaysian government is pro-business. However, it must ensure that its civil service understands and adopts the same principles. Hence, the Ninth Malaysia Plan should provide a strategy to infuse efficiency and effectiveness into the civil service so that they are able to better respond to the forces of globalisation and intense economic competition.
On our economic competitiveness, the last quarter productivity growth is not that desirable. We recorded less that 3 percent growth whereas some of our neighbours recorded a double digit growth. It is a fact that our economy has not hit its growth potential of 8 percent annually. It is pertinent that we address this issue immediately in order to ensure a successful ascension to a knowledge-based economy. High productivity is a key measurement of the capability and work ethics of our human resources.
Gerakan’s Viewpoint
Ladies and gentlemen, I noted that you will be discussing the issue of corporate equity distribution which will inevitable touch on the potential revival of the NEP and the past NEP targets and its implementation.
On our side, Gerakan advocates a non-racial socio-economic approach to achieve an equitable growth. We believe that policy interventions on poverty eradication, redistribution of wealth, capacity building et cetera should focus on the haves and have-nots and not between ethnic communities. Even if distribution of wealth is done proportionately to the ethnic representation but wealth in a respective community resides in the hands of a few it cannot be considered equitable.
In this regard, we find that it is fair to call for a Malaysian Agenda, instead of a Malay Agenda or a Chinese Agenda or an Indian Agenda, to be adopted as the basis of our socio-economic policy. We must adopt a system where all Malaysians are encouraged to give their optimal best. We need to transition from a system which celebrates the success of a few amidst a large number of losers into a system which guarantees success for all through sheer hard work, tenacity, perseverance, commitment and innovation.
We believe that education is the most important cornerstone of our economic performance. Every successful economy has a firmly grounded and high quality education system. I believe that the issues we face in our education sector - e.g. downgrading of our tertiary institutions in the world rankings and other uncertainties surrounding the whole spectrum of our education system – is a key impact on national economic resilience and competitiveness. Human capital is the most important aspect of a knowledge-based economy. Do we have the right human development process via our education system? The answer requires our sincere reflection, the courage to recognise the weaknesses and the political will to address them.
Conclusion
I believe you have many more important issues to deliberate this morning. Many of us, especially policy makers and leaders of Parti Gerakan, are looking forward to the valuable inputs, opinions and feedback that we can convey to the relevant authorities.
Gerakan has submitted our views on the Ninth Malaysia Plan last year but we continue to seek valuable inputs and suggestions that we can put forth to the government to affect better policy formulation and implementation.
Finally, I hope you will find this roundtable meaningful and worthwhile.
Thank you.
Dato’ Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik,
Minister of Water, Energy and Telecommunications