PM MARKS CRISIS TESTED FIRST-YEAR IN OFFICE WITH BOLD MEASURES

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
marks his first-year in office with a string of bold and drastic measures to
push the country's growth trajectory and transform the nation into a high-income
based economy.

His "crisis-tested" leadership during the unprecedented economic meltdown
and domestic political drama has, in many ways, boosted the country's profile
among foreign and local investors especially under the 1Malaysia concept.

Najib succeeded Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Malaysia's sixth Prime Minister
of April 3, 2009.

Under his stewardship, Malaysia managed to attract substantial foreign
investments of RM22.1 billion (US$1=RM3.2) last year, against a backdrop of a
very competitive environment, and registered an unexpected 4.6 per cent Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the fourth-quarter of 2009, thanks to the
implementation of the RM67 billion-stimulus package.

The first stage of the New Economic Model (NEM), unveiled on Tuesday, by and
large was well received although there were areas of concern and clarity, which
is expected to be more visible during the second stage of the announcement
expected in June.

The NEM will be incorporated into the country's 10th Malaysia Plan.

"Investors are probably adopting a-wait-and-see stance on the outcome of the
NEM as there is a second stage of announcement," said Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia
Exchange) Chief Executive Officer Yusli Mohamed Yusoff.

Malayan Banking Bhd's President/Chief Executive Officer Abdul
Wahid Omar said the unveiling of the NEM gave fund managers and other
participants, at the just-concluded "Invest Malaysia 2010" conference, a clearer
view of the government's move to transform the economy.

"Apart from boosting their confidence, the initiative showed that the
Malaysian government is really going to push to achieve its plans," he said
Thursday.

Yusli hoped with the next phase of implementation and execution of
the NEM, investors would not be sceptical anymore.

"The rolling out of the second stimulus package and a series of economic
policy reforms and transformation plan heightened public perception and the
confidence level of the business community during the crisis," RAM Holdings'
Group Chief Economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said.

Moving the capital market forward and liberalisation of the financial sector
were among Najib's first steps, especially in Islamic Finance and the banking
industry, which was well received by investors, said Asian Finance Bank's Chief
Executive Officer Mohamed Azahari Kamil.

"We see a lot of developments and emerging foreign interest to develop
business and use Kuala Lumpur as the hub for Islamic Finance," he said.

Announcements made in the past year, such as changes to the Foreign
Investment Committee, has been very positive for the capital market development,
said Yusli.

"The reduction in Bumiputera (son of earth) shares for companies seeking
listing and new board structure has not only helped the market become more
efficient but has also made it easier for companies to raise capital and go for
initial public offering," he said.

Although many of the initiatives were put in place during the crisis,
companies are now more ready to raise more capital and therefore "we look
forward for more fund-raising exercises to take place now given that the
framework is already there."

Similarly, Jupiter Securities Sdn Bhd Head of Research Pong Teng Siew said
although the full impact of Najib's liberalisation moves have yet to be felt, as
it has only been a year, it, neverheless, has been growing progressively.

"We have to wait as these initiatives can't bear fruit overnight but over
the course of several years," he said.

President of Coca Cola Pacific Group Glenn Jordan said the multinational
company is very optimistic with the country's development and subsequently its
business here.

The company's recent RM1 billion investment represented Coca-Cola's strong
commitment to Malaysia and its customers in delivering refreshing beverages
choices, creating job opportunities and helping in building a better community.

Besides the 1Malaysia concept, which is aimed at bringing the people
together, Najib has also introduced very clear National Key Results Areas (NKRA)
versus Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which will help set a benchmark to
compete with the world, said Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Chief
Executive Officer, Michael Lai.

"Corporations like us always have a very clear objective and very clear KPIs
every year. I think this augurs well in terms of how serious our PM is in terms
of achieving the objectives, goals of the country and Vision 2020 in the next 10
years," he said.

Najib, who is also Finance minister, is the first Prime Minister who has
engaged in social medium space, that augured well with the broadband initiative
as well.

The Prime Minister also has his own Facebook -- a social network, twitter
account and a blog.

"Using the digital world as an engagement platform is very critical and in
today's world, it is no longer about one-to-one but about cyber space.

"You can engage even with the younger generation, where their lives today is
pretty much linked with the digital media," said Lai.

Having steered the country into a milder-than-expected recession, a more
difficult challenge however lies ahead - lifting the cheap foreign
labour-dependent economy out of its middle-income rut and galvanising the nation
towards his 1Malaysia vision and high-income aspiration for the country, said
Yeah.

"This challenge will likely bring out the best of the PM's economic
management and political leadership skills," he added.

Going forward, Yusli said there should also be continued focus on human
capital development, right from school to higher education system, as the focus
is on high-value added and income industries.

Pong said execution of the NEM would be the next important step by the Prime
Minister to ensure the future direction of the Malaysian economy.

In terms of sectors, he said the country needs to invest more in renewable
energy, pharmaceuticals, research and development and human capital.

"We need a product that can be a niche market for us and can create wealth.
"These are among the new growth areas especially in terms of manufacturing,"
said Pong.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia,
Dr Mohd Ariffin Aton said the public sector must cooperate with the
private sector to realise the programmes that Najib will come up with under the
New Economic Model.

"He really needs the strong support of the people, especially the public
sector, which is going to implement his programmes like the New Economic Model,"
he added.

-- BERNAMA