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Categories
| MCA, Gerakan: Liberalise every sector |
| Written by John Lim | |||
| Thursday, 23 April 2009 15:31 | |||
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"It would be in national interest to fully liberalise every sector," said MCA Secretary General Senator Datuk Wong Foon Meng in a statement today. The remaining nine sectors that still fall under the quota requirements are property, defence, utilities, government investment agencies, telecommunications, publication, airports, banking and financial institutions, as well as public transportation. "When there is a level playing field, this will spur further local and foreign direct investment into Malaysia which will augur well for our local economy through creating employments, boosting financial prospects and ensuring economic stability," Wong added. Wong, who is also deputy president of the senate, hoped that liberalisation of the 27 sub-sectors would be sustained permanently and that quota requirements will not be re-invoked in the future. "Similarly, there should not be micro-restructuring in any other sectors to compensate for the lifting of quotas here," Wong said. Gerakan Vice-President and Head of Central Economic Bureau Datuk Mah Siew Keong echoed Wong's sentiment, urging Najib to introduce further liberalisation measures to make the country an attractive place to invest, trade and stay. "While strengthening our economy, we also want Malaysia to be more competitive at the international level," said Mah in a statement. Khaw Veon Szu, director of Gerakan think-tank Sedar said that Mah's statement reflects Gerakan's approach to further liberalise the economy. "His statement is not a demanding one, but one that reinforces the opinion of most Umno leaders' that this is the way to move the country's economy forward. This is the way it should be done, subtly and taking one step at a time," Khaw said. On Wednesday, Najib freed the country's services sector by ending the 30% Bumiputera equity rule in 27 services sub-sectors to improve Malaysia's competitiveness in the softening global economy. These sub-sectors include health and social services, tourism services, transport services, business services and computer and related services.
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