high-impact economic products and activities.

To improve Malaysia’s global competitiveness and expand the economy, Anwar said his administration has allocated RM100mil to complete the infrastructure at various industrial zones throughout the country. An additional RM100mil would be allotted to enhance the research, development, commercialisation and innovation ecosystem, he added.

The focus will be on industrial needs, renewable energy and new growth activities – all part of the government’s effort to achieve a gross domestic expenditure on R&D to GDP ratio of 3.5%.

“All the efforts to enhance the country’s economy ultimately leads to the next step, which is to improve the livelihood of Malaysians. The success of the Madani Economy structural renewal has to be measured by how it produces jobs with a meaningful remuneration package for the people,” he said.

The government is also looking into several oft-mentioned initiatives such as enacting a progressive minimum wage system – which has partly been put into effect – as well as reducing the reliance on foreign labour by introducing a tiered-levy system on non-Malaysian workers.

Anwar said such efforts will increase the adoption of automation and provide upskilling opportunities for Malaysian employees.

He said his administration is working with a number of government-linked investment companies (GLICs) to invest up to RM1bil in additional funds, in partnership with private investors, to support local startups and to further spur technopreneurship.

Recognising that approximately 79% of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) consist of micro businesses, he said these small-size endeavours have the potential to expand and penetrate international markets, especially if they get enough facilities and support.

As such, he said the government would prepare an addition RM100mil in the digitalisation matching grant to help MSMEs further digitalise their business models. This is in line with digital economy reforms meant to enhance the online business exposure of such enterprises.

Madani is an acronym for a policy that embraces six core values: keMampanan (Sustainability), KesejAhteraan (Prosperity), Daya Cipta (Innovation), hormAt (Respect), keyakiNan (Trust) and Ihsan (Compassion).

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by By KEITH HIEW, TARRENCE TAN, ALLISON LAI and FATIMAH ZAINAL

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