ID :
82284
Tue, 09/29/2009 - 15:57
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/82284
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DPM: THREE PRINCIPLES TO CONSIDER IN FORMULATING NEW ECONOMIC MODEL
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin Tuesday outlined three key principles for policy initiators and formulators to consider when developing and formulating the new economic model for a more lasting and equitable prosperity.
The principles were broad-based growth, broad-based economic empowerment and
bottom-up growth, the deputy prime minister told civil servants attending the
14th Civil Service Conference at the National Institute of Public Administration
(Intan) here.
"I strongly believe that a new economic model has to premised on the
philosophy of balanced growth and distributive justice.
"The economic model that we want to develop must satify and fulfil the hope
of all Malaysians. It must unite the different ethnic Malaysians of varied
social and cultural values and backgrounds into a cohesive society," he said in
his address, themed "Transforming The Nation: Constructing The Future, Investing
in Prosperity".
Muhyiddin said that the principle of broad-based growth, among others,
emphasised that all sectors of the economy should be given equal, fair emphasis
and should not necessarily accord less importance to rural development.
Rural development entailed enhancing the competitiveness of rural areas,
providing opportunities for rural people to enjoy a higher standard of living
and at the same time preserving the natural heritage, he said.
"Policy initiators and formulators must rethink rural development not as
traditional sector-based but as an integral development of the national economy.
"This is because rural areas comprise a large percentage of land area of
Malaysia. It represents a large share of the national economy and thus is
economically viable and environmentally a feasible component of a balanced
national development," he said.
Muhyiddin said new ways must be found to support the rural mechanism and
nourish its dynamism to remain profitable and competitive.
"This in turn will motivate the rural community to engage in rewarding,
market-driven activities, enterprises and employment. Ultimately the activities
will contribute to the economic growth of the areas."
He said another important aspect of the broad-based growth principle lay in
the production of food because food economy was an important agenda of a
country.
"We have learnt a bitter lesson from the global food crisis of 2008. It
alerts us to the fragility of food supplies in Malaysia when a number of
rice-exporting countries imposed curbs on their exports," he said.
He said Malaysia responded to the food crisis by importing rice at higher
prices and at the same time revising the rice self-sufficiency policy from 70
per cent to 90 per cent by 2010.
"The aftermath of the crisis, foods prices particularly rice did not return
to the prices before the crisis while international food prices continue to
rise," he said.
On broad-based economic empowerment, Muhyiddin said the approach avoided the
misguided philosophy of dependency which was built upon differences of
education, regional origins, languages, religions, income inequalities or social
class of families which led them to rely on continuous government assistance.
"The families are trapped in a dependency culture and live a life of
non-productive labour.
"Economic empowerment advocators link the dependency attitude to the lack of
economic opportunity that de-motivates the deprived and disadvantaged community
from being involved in the mainstream economy," he said.
Muhyiddin said empowerment aimed at expanding economic and socio-economic
opportunities which supported the access of individuals and families to
enterprise and self-reliance.
"I believe that broad-based economic empowerment is a way forward to marshal
families to help themselves. Policy formulators should work on programmes such
as job training or teaching economically disadvantaged people to enable them to
re-enter the workforce and to avoid predatory loans."
These would pave the way to encourage them to start and increase savings, he
said.
Muhyiddin said the principle would encourage a trickle down effect in which
every Malaysian would thus have a chance to succeed in raising their families,
have access to schools and world-class universities, affordable health care and
secure social safety net.
"To achieve these desirable effects, policy initiators and formulators must
make the right policy choices -- policies that cater to the needs of working and
middle-class Malaysians, policies that help families to offset the rising cost
of living and surging food prices as well as policies that create employment to
offset laid-off workers," he said.
On the bottom-up growth principle, Muhyiddin said the approach was
fundamentally about redistributing financial assistance by investing in local
entrepreneurs and empowering them from below.
"The fund that goes to entrepreneurs creates many more jobs, hence
stimulating economic growth which produces bigger economic ripple effects," he
said.
Muhyiddin said that at the family level, the bottom-up approach would help
families to plan and prepare them with hope for a better future for their
children and the hardworking families deserved support to enable them to climb
up the ladder of success.
"I believe in the current challenging global economy, transforming
Malaysia's economy should aim at providing the advancement of individual
opportunity so that every Malaysian, especially those from poor families, have
equal opportunities of making a good living.
"Therefore, the bottom-up growth principle will help to eliminate economic
insecurity and thus drive them to improve their standard of living and promote
economic growth," he said.
On the new economic model, Muhyiddin said it was time to rethink and
re-shape the economy into a better, more resilient model for the continued
sustainability of Malaysia's growth path.
"A new economic model is not an option for Malaysia but is a must. It must
be achieved with a sense of community based on a fair reward system. It must
also address social cohesion, stimulate innovation, engender excellence, create
jobs of the future and give our workers the skills and training they need to
compete for those jobs."
The new economic model should shift Malaysia from a manufacturing-based
country which was dependent on semi-skilled and low-cost labour to an economy
hinged on a modern niche services sector relying on highly-skilled and well-paid
workers.
"It should leverage on creativity, innovation, added value and the
entrepreneurial spirit. The success of the new economic model is therefore
largely dependent on an effective human capital development strategy.
"It must be a strategy that can thrive in meeting the challenges of
Malaysia's 21st century innovation-driven economic model," he said.
-- BERNAMA
The principles were broad-based growth, broad-based economic empowerment and
bottom-up growth, the deputy prime minister told civil servants attending the
14th Civil Service Conference at the National Institute of Public Administration
(Intan) here.
"I strongly believe that a new economic model has to premised on the
philosophy of balanced growth and distributive justice.
"The economic model that we want to develop must satify and fulfil the hope
of all Malaysians. It must unite the different ethnic Malaysians of varied
social and cultural values and backgrounds into a cohesive society," he said in
his address, themed "Transforming The Nation: Constructing The Future, Investing
in Prosperity".
Muhyiddin said that the principle of broad-based growth, among others,
emphasised that all sectors of the economy should be given equal, fair emphasis
and should not necessarily accord less importance to rural development.
Rural development entailed enhancing the competitiveness of rural areas,
providing opportunities for rural people to enjoy a higher standard of living
and at the same time preserving the natural heritage, he said.
"Policy initiators and formulators must rethink rural development not as
traditional sector-based but as an integral development of the national economy.
"This is because rural areas comprise a large percentage of land area of
Malaysia. It represents a large share of the national economy and thus is
economically viable and environmentally a feasible component of a balanced
national development," he said.
Muhyiddin said new ways must be found to support the rural mechanism and
nourish its dynamism to remain profitable and competitive.
"This in turn will motivate the rural community to engage in rewarding,
market-driven activities, enterprises and employment. Ultimately the activities
will contribute to the economic growth of the areas."
He said another important aspect of the broad-based growth principle lay in
the production of food because food economy was an important agenda of a
country.
"We have learnt a bitter lesson from the global food crisis of 2008. It
alerts us to the fragility of food supplies in Malaysia when a number of
rice-exporting countries imposed curbs on their exports," he said.
He said Malaysia responded to the food crisis by importing rice at higher
prices and at the same time revising the rice self-sufficiency policy from 70
per cent to 90 per cent by 2010.
"The aftermath of the crisis, foods prices particularly rice did not return
to the prices before the crisis while international food prices continue to
rise," he said.
On broad-based economic empowerment, Muhyiddin said the approach avoided the
misguided philosophy of dependency which was built upon differences of
education, regional origins, languages, religions, income inequalities or social
class of families which led them to rely on continuous government assistance.
"The families are trapped in a dependency culture and live a life of
non-productive labour.
"Economic empowerment advocators link the dependency attitude to the lack of
economic opportunity that de-motivates the deprived and disadvantaged community
from being involved in the mainstream economy," he said.
Muhyiddin said empowerment aimed at expanding economic and socio-economic
opportunities which supported the access of individuals and families to
enterprise and self-reliance.
"I believe that broad-based economic empowerment is a way forward to marshal
families to help themselves. Policy formulators should work on programmes such
as job training or teaching economically disadvantaged people to enable them to
re-enter the workforce and to avoid predatory loans."
These would pave the way to encourage them to start and increase savings, he
said.
Muhyiddin said the principle would encourage a trickle down effect in which
every Malaysian would thus have a chance to succeed in raising their families,
have access to schools and world-class universities, affordable health care and
secure social safety net.
"To achieve these desirable effects, policy initiators and formulators must
make the right policy choices -- policies that cater to the needs of working and
middle-class Malaysians, policies that help families to offset the rising cost
of living and surging food prices as well as policies that create employment to
offset laid-off workers," he said.
On the bottom-up growth principle, Muhyiddin said the approach was
fundamentally about redistributing financial assistance by investing in local
entrepreneurs and empowering them from below.
"The fund that goes to entrepreneurs creates many more jobs, hence
stimulating economic growth which produces bigger economic ripple effects," he
said.
Muhyiddin said that at the family level, the bottom-up approach would help
families to plan and prepare them with hope for a better future for their
children and the hardworking families deserved support to enable them to climb
up the ladder of success.
"I believe in the current challenging global economy, transforming
Malaysia's economy should aim at providing the advancement of individual
opportunity so that every Malaysian, especially those from poor families, have
equal opportunities of making a good living.
"Therefore, the bottom-up growth principle will help to eliminate economic
insecurity and thus drive them to improve their standard of living and promote
economic growth," he said.
On the new economic model, Muhyiddin said it was time to rethink and
re-shape the economy into a better, more resilient model for the continued
sustainability of Malaysia's growth path.
"A new economic model is not an option for Malaysia but is a must. It must
be achieved with a sense of community based on a fair reward system. It must
also address social cohesion, stimulate innovation, engender excellence, create
jobs of the future and give our workers the skills and training they need to
compete for those jobs."
The new economic model should shift Malaysia from a manufacturing-based
country which was dependent on semi-skilled and low-cost labour to an economy
hinged on a modern niche services sector relying on highly-skilled and well-paid
workers.
"It should leverage on creativity, innovation, added value and the
entrepreneurial spirit. The success of the new economic model is therefore
largely dependent on an effective human capital development strategy.
"It must be a strategy that can thrive in meeting the challenges of
Malaysia's 21st century innovation-driven economic model," he said.
-- BERNAMA
