MALAYSIA WILL ESTABILISH GREEN TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL - PM

BANGI (Malaysia), July 25 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Government intends to
establish a green technology council for high-level coordination among
ministries, agencies,
private sector and key stakeholders for effective implementation of green
technology policies.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who will chair the council, said the
move was one of five strategic thrusts under the National Green Technology
Policy.

He said the policy was predicated on four primary pillars of energy,
environment, economy and social perspective.

"My deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, would be my alternate and the ministry of
energy, green technology and water will be the focal point to coordinate and
facilitate the role of all stakeholders for the successful implementation of the
Green Techology Roadmap," he said when launching the policy here Friday.

He said the second strategic thrust aimed to provide a conducive environment
for Green Technology Development.

Najib said this included the introduction and implementation of innovative
economic instruments, as well as the establishment of effective fiscal and
financial mechanisms to support the growth of green industries.

"We are planning for greater promotion of foreign direct investments (FDI)
on
green technology to foster domestic direct investments (DDIs) and local industry
participation," added the prime minister.

He said, up till June this year, Malaysia had attracted almost RM12 billion
in
investments from the solar photovoltaics industry through FDIs, from top
companies such as First Solar, Sun Power, Q-Cells and Tokuyama.

He said meanwhile, strategic thrust three would seek to intensify human
capital development by availing training and education programmes, and by
providing financial packages and incentives for students embarking on green
technology-related subjects.

"We must ensure that we have skilled, qualified, competent and productive
human
resources as this is a crucial factor for Green Technology development," he
said.

Najib said strategic thrust four was to intensify Green Technology
research
and innovation towards commercialisation, and the incentives would be offered
and announced in due course.

He said the final thrust for green technology to move forward was based on
strong promotion and public awareness since it was a new sector in the country.

He said the government would lead by example by adopting green technology in
government facilities and promotion, education and information dissemination to
create buy-in of the public to support the 'green economy' and adopt 'green
practices', as part of their life would be done.

Najib also named Pusat Tenaga Malaysia's building as the Green Energy Office
(GEO) which is the first Green Building Index (GBI) rated building in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, at the press conference, when asked whether the government would
introduce benefits for corporations that adopt the green technology, he said the
government had given double tax deduction for such companies.

"We are looking into it. We might consider some proposals in the near
future.

"But obviously, we do need to look into it in greater depth first, before we
decide what kind of incentives to offer," he said, indicating that the
government was serious about this development and would like to see it happen.

Asked on incentives for consumers using solar energy, he said solar energy
was quite expensive now but in a few years time, it would become very
competitive, and the government would continue to support the development of
solar energy in the country.

-- BERNAMA