IMPLEMENTATION IS KEY TO SUCCESS OF GOVERNMENT'S ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION PLAN

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- Implementation is the key to the success
of the government's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), ECMLibra
Investment Research said.

It said that while it awaits details of the Entry Point Projects (EPP) and
business opportunities which would be revealed on Sep 21, it is positive that
the government is taking proactive steps towards transformation, both
economically and politically.

ECMLibra was referring to an analyst briefing on the ETP organised by the
Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), under the Prime Minister's
Department, earlier this week.

Senator Idris Jala went to great lengths to share with the analyst
community, the progress made so far, on the formulation of the ETP which will
be formally revealed to the public on Sept 21.

The key takeaways from the briefing are, National Key Economic Area (NKEA)
projects will achieve GDP growth of six per cent, NKEA projects which would
contribute 73 per cent of gross national income (GNI) by 2020, 92 per cent of
project funding would come from the private sector and only eight per cent from
the public sector.

In addition, 3.3 million jobs would be created with 131 EPPs and 60 business
opportunities, having been identified for implementation.

The 12 NKEAs are expected to be the primary drivers to achieve GDP
growth of at least six per cent per annum over the next 10 years and which will
result in the achievement of a developed nation status by the year 2020 with GNI
per capita of at least US$15,000.

The 12 NKEAs comprise 11 economic sectors and one geographical area,
namely Greater Kuala Lumpur.

Among the NKEAs, Greater KL will contribute the largest GNI impact of
US$121.8 billion through the implementation of 10 EPPs and one business
opportunities.

From the sectoral dimension, the top three sectors in terms of GNI impacts
are oil, gas and energy, financial services and palm oil with incremental GNI of
US$45.8 billion, US$41.8 billion and US$39.2 billion respectively.

The key to success in implementing the projects under NKEAs, ECMLibra
Investment Research said, is on how to attract the required private sector
investments.

With government funding just eight per cent of the required investment, the
government needs to provide investment incentives on a targeted approach and
that's exactly what Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) will be
doing, once its corporatisation plan is completed.

So far, of the 131 EPPs which require US$216 billion investments, there are
already US$37 billion in committed investments and another US$10 billion with
partial commitment from named investors.

The ETP is not a high level plan. This had been stressed by Jala
throughout the briefing, according to ECMLibra.

It comprises of detailed programmes which can be implemented immediately.

While the detailed programmes for the 12 NKEAs will drive economic growth,
the government, through the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), has also
formulated eight strategic reform initiatives (SRIs) which act as enablers for
the government's economic transformation agenda.

One of the things the government is doing as part of its SRIs is the
designation of MIDA as a one-stop agency to promote investments in the country.

Towards this end, it hopes to complete amendments to three Acts needed to
realise its corporatisation plans, by the first quarter of 2011.

The Acts involved are the MIDA Act, the Promotion of Investment Act and the
Income Tax Act.

Coming back to the NKEAs, PEMANDU envisages that a total investment of
US$444 billion will be required to undertake the 131 EPPs and 60 business
opportunities.

While the initiatives are government-driven, funding for these projects will
largely come from the private sector.

Only eight per cent of the investment or US$34 billion will funded directly
by the government while the remaining 92 per cent or US$410 billion will be
funded by the private sector.

Note that, of the 92 per cent private sector funding, 32 per cent will come
from government-linked companies (GLCs).
-- BERNAMA