Turbocharging Malaysia’s prosperity

After the failure of Vision 2020, a new one promises to elevate the country to a high-income economy.

I HAD only just joined the workforce in the 1990s when our fourth Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced “Vision 2020”, his ambitious plan to propel Malaysia into the ranks of developed nation status.

A slew of large-scale, multi-billion ringgit infrastructure projects ensued, including a new airport – the KL International Airport (KLIA), a new federal administrative capital – Putrajaya and the one-time tallest building in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers.

This coincided with the corporatisation and privatisation of a number of public services.

But despite undergoing rapid economic development over the next three decades, Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP), per capita income, level of industrialisation and overall standard of living are still not on par with other developed nations.

The country’s growth lags behind East Asian economies because of a dependency on export commodities which can fluctuate in price and a delayed adoption of high technology.

We have failed to achieve Vision 2020, but fast forward to the present, and Dr Mahathir, now Malaysia’s seventh Prime Minister, has unveiled a new plan, Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, that he hopes will finally enable Malaysia to attain industrialised nation status.

This new plan seeks to address the widening income gaps between employers and employees, classes, regions and ethnic groups.

The plan, it is hoped, will provide the “turbocharge” needed to spur a sustainable economic growth which in turn will elevate us to a high-income economy and increase the people’s purchasing power.

The goal here is to transform Malaysia into a high-income nation by focusing on high-technology jobs in line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0, which requires specific skills rather than labour-intensive, low-skilled jobs.

There are many reasons why Vision 2020 was not attainable but Dr Mahathir has singled out rampant corruption as a key reason.

He cited the old practice of giving out government contracts to friends and cronies who are incapable of handling a project, and in turn, sell these to third parties and pocket the profits.

This, he said, must stop immediately and from now on, all contracts, licences, approved permits and anything else concerning the government will have to go through a rigorous process of identifying whether the said person or company can handle the job.

And at the end of an old decade, and the start of the third decade of the 21st century, what can we expect for new Malaysia?

For starters, the Health Ministry says it will fully enforce the smoking ban at all public eateries starting Jan 1,2020, following the High Court ruling that such a ban does not breach people’s right to liberty and equality.

The ban requires smokers to keep a minimum of 3m from a food

outlet’s tables and chairs, but I foresee issues with enforcing the new law.

In fact with just a few days to go before the ban takes effect, there are still numerous bars and eateries that continue to ignore the new regulations.

I doubt the Health Ministry’s enforcement personnel will be able to take action against so many of these recalcitrant outlets.

The two other key laws that take effect from Jan 1 is the minimum wage hike and the rear seat belt regulations. The former will be introduced in 57 major towns and will see the introduction of a minimum wage of RM1,200.

This decision has already been slammed by the Malaysian Employers Federation who say that business was not good for many companies and that many were trying to avoid retrenchment. The federation estimates that more than 30,000 workers would have been retrenched by the end of 2019.

Buckling up for rear passengers will now be mandatory in a few days time, but then this law should have been enforced a long time

ago.

Many developed countries have had this law in place for the last 20 years and it is puzzling that despite the law being introduced here in 2009, it has taken this long for enforcement to begin.

Child car safety seats will also be made mandatory and this is definitely a welcome move. Child car safety seats may be a tad expensive but you can’t put a price on the safety of your children.

The eyes of the world will also be upon us in 2020 as we host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in November.

Some 16,000 delegates as well as leaders from around the world are expected in stages for the various Apec meetings to be held here.

Apec is also expected to be Dr Mahathir’s swan song on the national and international stage. He has already indicated that he will step down after Apec (without giving a definitive date).

And at the Apec 2020 launch on Dec 4, the Prime Minister already alluded to his curtain call – Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.

He said it was time for member economies to consider embracing the “Shared Prosperity” philosophy and embedding it in their economic models.

“Improving the overall well-being of our people and enabling every citizen to have a more decent living standard would make Apec sustainable and relevant as a grouping in the long run.”

He could just as easily have been talking about Malaysia.

The writer is also looking forward to the following: in no particular order – the Trump impeachment proceedings, Brexit, Euro 2020 and, of course, the Olympic Games in Tokyo.