INCREASE IN WAGES CAN HELP ACHIEVE VISION 2020, SAYS MAHATHIR

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Monday that increase
in wages can help make Malaysia a developed nation in line with Vision 2020.

The former Prime Minister who introduced Vision 2020 said that the increase
would contribute towards a much faster growth of the per capita income for
developed nation status.

He was giving a talk entitled "Revisiting Vision 2020" here organised by the
Malaysian Institute of Marketing.

Dr Mahathir said the government must oversee the situation to guard against
profiteering and ensure that any price hike would not be as much as the wage
increase.

Dr Mahathir said that it was understood that the government would continue to
downsize its role in the economy and business, but it must be an economy
characterised by low inflation and low cost of living.

"When we talk about low cost of living, people must accept that it also means
low income. If you want to have high income, you have to accept that the cost of
living will also go up," he said.

"A company cannot give higher wages without selling its products at higher
prices and this will contribute to higher inflation and increase in the cost of
living," he said.

Dr Mahathir said:"A ten per cent increase in wages cannot buy 10 per cent more
of what we used to buy simply because the cost of living goes up. But if a 10
per cent increase in wages can buy five per cent more of what we used to buy,
then I think we have made some progress."

He said that changes must be made to strategies, including getting more domestic
direct investment and not depending too much on foreign direct investment.

He believed that the Vision 2020 objective of becoming a developed nation can be
achieved.

"We have ten good years before we reach 2020," he said.
-- BERNAMA