KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has urged the government to gazette the Government Procurement Act (GPA) 2025 without delay.
Its president, Jacob Lee Chor Kok (pic), said the Act is Malaysia’s first dedicated law on public procurement. However, it remained pending under Section 1(2), which requires the Finance Minister to set the commencement date by Federal Gazette notification.
“FMM has long advocated a single procurement law,” he said in a statement on Thursday (May 21).
Lee said the GPA 2025 would create a framework for transparency, fair competition and accountability across federal and state procuring entities for the first time.
He added that public procurement is one of the largest areas of government spending and affects the competitiveness of Malaysian industries and domestic supply chains.
He said that a statutory framework that makes open and competitive tendering the primary procurement method would strengthen governance.
FMM also urged the government to announce a timeline for subsidiary regulations, including approval thresholds, transition plans for agencies still operating under treasury instructions, and the operational readiness of the Government Procurement Appeal Tribunal (GPAT).
Lee said the current global environment made such reforms more urgent.
“Robust verification mechanisms within the GPA 2025 framework are essential to protect the integrity of the Buy Malaysian policy,” he said.
FMM proposed that Clause 29, which covers social, economic and environmental development measures, include a mandatory Buy Made-in-Malaysia requirement across ministries, agencies and state governments.
The federation also called for annual public reporting on contracts awarded to Malaysian manufacturers and for procurement specifications to remain neutral, so as not to exclude qualified local suppliers.
Other recommendations included stronger coordination between the Registrar of Government Procurement, the Customs Department and the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry to verify supplier declarations against manufacturing licences and import records.
FMM also proposed a centralised, verified directory of Malaysian manufacturers linked to the e-Perolehan platform and MITI’s manufacturing licence database.
To improve access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Lee said FMM recommended fully digitalising supplier registration through a single-window platform and, where feasible, splitting large tenders into smaller contract lots.
The federation also proposed mandatory payment timelines of 30 days for contracts below RM1mil and 45 days for larger contracts, along with automatic interest for late payments.
Lee said FMM also wanted GLCs receiving public funding to be subject to the same procurement standards as government agencies, including annual disclosure of supplier nationality and contract values.
“Without consistent application across GLCs, the level playing field promised under the Act will not be fully achieved,” he said.
