SUBSIDIES TO BE RESTRUCTURED, REDUCED IN STAGES

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- The giving of subsidies will be
restructured and reduced in stages, Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal
Abidin said in the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house of Malaysia's
Parliament)Monday.

However, the target groups, like the poor, would continue to receive aid to
ensure that they were not burdened, he said.

"As such, We call on the people to be far-sighted and be prepared to accept
this change," he said when opening the third session of the 12th parliament
here.

Currently subsidies were enjoyed not only by the target groups but also
those who were not eligible, like the high-income earners and foreigners, he
said, adding that the government had spent a lot on subsidies to ease the
people's burden.

"In 2009 alone, RM24.5 billion (US$7.2 billion) was spent for this purpose."

On another matter, he said he was thankful that the country's economy was
recovering from impact of the global economic downturn, with the Gross Domestic
Product for the third quarter registering positive growth of 4.5 per cent, which
was better than the 3 per cent projected.

This encouraging development was due, among others, to the implementation of
two economic stimulus packages worth RM67 billion (US$19.7 billion) and the
strong domestic and foreign demand.

He said the economic downturn had a silver lining because it pushed all
parties to strive to fully utilise the available resources and opportunities to
take the country out of the difficult situation.

He was happy that the governemnt, under the leadership of Prime Minister
Najib Razak, had used it as an opportunity to transform the country towards a
better future.

He said the government was very committed to ensuring that development
projects were completed on schedule, were of quality and gave returns
commensurate with the allocations spent.

In this respect, monitoring should constantly be enhanced to ensure that the
projects spurred economic activities and brought well-being to the people.

All government agencies would continue to focus on the impact and outcome of
projects instead of solely on the output, he said.

Tuanku Mizan also said that in a globalised competitive era, Malaysia
needed human capital with knowledge, creativity, integrity and strong competive
and entrepreneurial spirit to ensure the country's success in future.

In view of this, he welcomed the effort to extend access to pre-school
education, enhance literacy and numeracy command of students and develop
high-performance schools.

"We welcome the move by government linked companies to adopt certain schools
to raise their performance."

He also touched on the National Permata Programme mooted by the prime
minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor, saying that following its success,
the government would empower it by introducing several more programmes like
Permata Pintar, Permata Seni, Permata Insan and Permata Remaja.

The Permata Programme emphasises on early childcare and education in an
integrated and organised manner.

"These programmes will produce a new generation to propel the country to a
more outstanding future," he added.

Tuanku Mizan also said that the new education policy which prioritised
Bahasa Malaysia, strengthened the command of English and enhanced the use of
information communication technology, would further reinforce the country's
education system.

He hoped that the talent and potential of the youth would be mobilised
and wanted them to change their way of thinking and be prepared to shoulder a
bigger responsibility.
-- BERNAMA


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