Wahid talks about his three 'action-packed' years as Cabinet minister

PUTRAJAYA, 2 Jun -- Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar pada sidang media hari ini sebelum menamatkan perkhidmatan selaku Menteri itu pada 4 Jun ini.--fotoBERNAMA (2016 HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar (pic) describes his three years stint as a Cabinet minister as an “action packed” experience.

In a note to the media, the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department shared some of his experience in the Cabinet, Economic Council and Parliament.

“I still remember being nervous attending my first Cabinet meeting on June 12, 2013,” Wahid said.

“Thankfully I was accepted by the other Cabinet members cordially,” he added.

As a minister, Wahid oversees the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta (UKAS).

“I hope that I had added value in the discussion by giving the perspective of the private sector in from various issues before the government’s decisions,” he said.

The former president and chief executive officer of Malayan Banking Bhd was one of the ministers in charge of the economy.

“Without the fiscal consolidation efforts including the subsidies rationalisation and good and services tax implementation, the government would need to reduce its development expenditure significantly, which would impact country’s economic growth,” he said.

In addressing the uncertainty in the global economy, the government had formed the Special Economic Committee chaired by Wahid from August 2015.

“Several proactive measures were announced by Prime Minister on Sept 14, 2015 to stabilise the financial market, improve the wellbeing of the people, support business activities and increase the integrity of the institutions.”

“The financial market has stabilised and that our economy is expected to continue to grow between 4% and 4.5% this year, faster than world’s economic growth of 3%,”

Wahid said he also had the opportunity to assist the International Trade and Industry Minister (Miti) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations, including several briefing sessions to the US trade representative, Michael Froman, in relation to the Bumiputra Economic Empowerment Agenda and the role of government-linked companies.

“I believe the Malaysia and Miti team has done the best in the negotiations which resulted in getting beneficial terms. This includes the recognition of the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda as an inclusive policy in the TPPA,” he said.

Wahid shared his most unique experience during his stint in Parliament when he had to answer questions from Gombak MP in Parliament on July 1, 2013, on the unemployment rate.

“After having answered the supplementary question from Gombak and Ayer Hitam MPs, I felt challenged when the opposition leader, Permatang Pauh MP himself, stood up and voiced out a supplementary question.

“Although I felt like a rookie, I believe I was able to answer the question well even though I was intimidated by the opposition leader.”

He said his experience on that first day had helped him in subsequent Parliament sessions.

“I had the opportunity to table three bills on Malaysian Airline System Bhd (Administration) 2014, Aviation Commission 2015 and Gas Supply (Amendment) 2016.

“Three bills in three years of service represent a very valuable experience for me.”