ALOR STAR: The unity government is urged to reform Bumiputera economic policies in facing looming global recession and to build their resilience ahead of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) implementation.
Malaysian Malay Chamber of Commerce (DPMM) Kedah chapter president Datuk Mohd Zayad Md Ismail expressed hope that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would reform what he described as “rhetorical shouts” policies.
“Kedah DPMM stands committed to the earlier demands for policies to empower Bumiputera economy to be improved.
“This is because for years, Bumiputera economic advancement was not in line with the allocation or attention given by the government.
“It seemed the “Bumiputera Economic Empowerment” was just merely rhetoric shouts but in reality, it was the others who are reaping the benefits,” he said in an email interview with the New Straits Times.
Zayad congratulated Anwar for passing the vote of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat recently.
“The strong support is empirical to be proven (in Dewan Rakyat) to instil confidence among the business community and investors.
“It is high time for the government to focus on economic recovery and ensure the people’s welfare is well taken care for,” he said.
Hence, he said Kedah DPMM called for the new federal administration to pull the guts to reform existing key policies which meant to support Bumiputera economic advancement.
“Among others are issues concerning Bumiputera corporate equity, non-financial assets such as residential, industrial premises and commercial complexes besides optimising values and benefits of non-financial assets such as property among Muslim Bumiputera which are not being managed properly, causing the assets value to remain under-valued,” he said.
Zayad added that focus should be given on empowering Bumiputera enterprises to face challenges brought by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
“With the arrival of CPTPP, Bumiputera enterprises must be empowered by share ownership criteria and management,” he said.
The CPTPP is an Free Trade Agreement signed by Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreement came into force for Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore in December 2018, Vietnam in January 2019, Peru in September 2021 and Malaysia on Nov 29, 2022.
Commenting further, Ziyad said Kedah DPMM held high hope that the new administration would continue to assist business community to recover from the slump and rebuild their competitiveness to face economic uncertainties next year.
He said based on DPMM data, it was estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 businesses will be forced to wind up and as for now, over 30,000 have gone bankrupt due to current difficult times.
“Kedah DPMM hopes that the government will form a special entity to reduce red-tape to expedite the process of approval for business processes and applications.
“The government agencies involved in managing business application must be able to work faster and more efficiently while ensuring that delivery system reaches the target group,” he said.
He added that the government should focus on providing much needed support for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (PKMS).
“The assistance can be in the form of financing scheme such as loans, matching grants or loan restructuring so that they are able to restart businesses or in the form of shares equity.
“The recovery and support for PKMS is directly related to economic recovery as for last year, PKMS made about 98 per cent of business entities in the country, contributing about 37 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Production, providing jobs to 60 per cent of the country’s workforce,” he said.